Locked In
by SouthernStars
Summary: It was the oldest story in the world. They couldn't stand each other but their best friends saw it differently. So they found themselves locked in a basement. Unwillingly and with no way out but through the door they'd both walked through.
1. Chapter 1: Unwilling

Disclaimer: I do not own 'High School Musical' or any related characters.

A/N: Well, seeing as TLNR is become dramatic and exhausting and a tad difficult to write, I needed to pull some humor out of myself. Not joking. I found this hidden as on my USB the other day and thought that maybe it would make an amusing five-six chapter story. I've used the premise before but I think it might work better here.

Don't fear, the story's basically written, I've been writing it in huge snatches here and there so I don't think there's going to be a lot of waiting on this one. I hope.

Anyway, I hope you enjoy it!

* * *

**_Locked In_**

**Chapter One: Unwilling**

"Dude, why are you making me do this?" Troy Bolton didn't really care that it sounded like he was whining as his best friend, Chad Danforth, shot him an irritated look.

"Because if you don't, I might just have to kill you." Chad replied through gritted teeth, "And if I had to kill you, I would lose my wingman. And where would I be without my wingman?" Troy chuckled, his blue eyes trained on the distance between him and his exit.

"Shopping for matching poodles, probably." The comment was meant to come out wittily. Instead, it came out as a grunt as Chad shoved his shoulder into the middle of his best friend's back and Troy had to force his arms to stay straight.

Chad groaned and tried jabbing his elbow into Troy's side. Troy held back a wince and grinned when he heard Chad murmur something about 'damn solid muscles'. It was good to know that his muscles were solid and could cause some serious damage.

Troy snorted. "Ah yes, see, I have. There are some very nice girls at our school. _She's_ just not one of them."

Chad pulled his weight back onto his left foot before throwing it forward. Troy grunted from the exertion the shove made on his arms and wondered, briefly, how long he was going to be able to keep it up. He had a feeling he could hold out for a few more minutes before his muscles gave way.

"_She_ is my girlfriend's best friend." Chad swore silently when Troy gave no indication of moving as he barged him again.

"Uh-huh, I got that when you started dating Barbie. However, just because you're dating Barbie doesn't mean I have to make nice with _her_."

"Uh, yes it does. If I ever want to have sex again, you have to get along with her for an hour. Is that so hard?"

Troy couldn't help it. He snorted in laughter and nearly dropped his arms. Before Chad could realize his slip, Troy tightened the muscles in his arms and continued to laugh. "You're joking, right dude? Your sex life does not involve me behaving for a night, does it?"

"I'm not joking, Troy and seeing as you've been my best friend since we were eight, I'm asking you to please, _please_ not fuck this up. You're a good friend but if you cut of my sex supply, I _will_ kill you." Chad gave another measured nudge with his shoulder and Troy laughed again.

"Dude, how the hell did you end up in a relationship with a girl who manipulates you using your raging libido?"

"A question for the ages. Move." Chad snapped out the order in a commanding tone.

Troy tightened his arms. "No."

"Move."

"No."

"Troy, move!"

"Chad, no!"

"Why won't you fucking move?"

"Because I want to screw up your sex life. Oh, and _I don't want to be here!_"

"Fuck, dude – "

"Charles Danforth, language!"

At the sound of Haley Danforth's stern tone, Chad straightened and Troy let go of the doorframe. Both spun to face the petite women who had her hands on her hips and was watching the two with a hard glare.

Troy, rubbing his upper arm as discreetly as he could, offered the woman who he could only consider to be his second mother a sheepish smile. "Uh, you look nice Haley."

Haley eyed him, causing Troy to force himself not squirm the way he did when she used to catch him doing something naughty with Chad.

"Yeah mom, you look great." Chad nodded vigorously, rubbing his own shoulder as Troy flexed his arms to get blood flowing through them again.

Haley regarded the compliments with a brisk nod. Then she folded her arms. "What were you two doing?" She asked and Troy glanced at his friend.

"Um, mucking around?" He offered, ignoring the way Chad smacked his hand to his forehead as Haley raised her eyebrows and gave Troy the look he knew meant that he wasn't getting out of this without telling the truth.

"I was trying to force him into the living room." Chad muttered and Troy rolled his eyes.

"Because I don't want to be in the living room. _Someone_ decided to invite his girlfriend and her best friend over when _he_ told me it was going to be a guy's night." Troy muttered before Haley could ask why her son was attempting to force his friend into their living room.

For a moment, Haley glanced between the two teenagers before rolling her eyes.

"For God's sake you two, you're both old enough to know better." The words, said so often to the two made both Troy and Chad roll their own eyes. "Now, I'm going to pick up your father. Please don't burn down the house, break anything or have a house party. We should be home tomorrow sometime. Am I clear?" Chad nodded, even though Haley had been addressing both of them. Troy shrugged.

"Sure mom. See you tomorrow."

Both Troy and Chad muttered goodbye as Haley gave them both a pointed look before kissing both their cheeks. The two boys waited patiently until they heard the car pull out of the driveway before they turned to face each other, arms folded in a mirror image of the other. Troy was the first to break the quiet.

"Why does your sex life have to depend on me?"

"Dude, ignore that. Please get along with her."

Troy blew out a breath at Chad's pleading tone. Of course his friend would use it. Chad knew that Troy couldn't deny him when he used that tone. Between the tone and Chad's last, _last_ resort of using their friendship as a bargaining chip, Troy couldn't say no.

"Fine. But if she starts going on about that self-righteous crap, I'm out." Troy snapped and chose to ignore the way Chad clasped his hands together and shook them heavenwards.

Instead, he stalked into the living room and dropped onto the couch, glaring at the television set in front of him. He knew that he was being difficult and that Chad had been in his ear about getting along with _her_ for a while now but he couldn't help it. The girl rubbed him the wrong way, she always had. She was a little too self-righteous, a little too know-it-all and he swore to God that if she started sprouting her feminist bullshit to him at any point during the night, he was walking.

Hearing the doorbell ring, Troy chose to ignore it. He knew they'd arrive the minute Haley left and, as he sat in the living room that was about to become contaminated by _her_, Troy wished to God his mother hadn't thought it was so normal for him to go over to Chad on a Saturday night. Maybe if his mother had been in a worse mood, he could be sitting at home playing on his x-box while pretending his parents weren't in the house.

But no, he had to put his mother in a good mood. He knew he shouldn't have offered to clean up the kitchen! He'd known it and still, he had offered to clean it and then there was the tea! What kind of son offered to make his mother tea in the afternoon? What kind of son did that? A good one? No! One that should have made her mad so she'd refused to let him go over to his best friend's house which would mean he would have avoided this disaster in the making.

How Chad could not see what he was making him do was a disaster, Troy didn't know. All he knew is that it was highly doubtful Chad was still going to have a sex life after this night.

Catching a flash of color in the corner of his eye, Troy turned his head slightly, flipping his dark hair out of his cerulean eyes Troy couldn't help the scowl that pulled at his lips.

Gabriella Montez stood framed by the doorway his friend had previously tried to force him through. Troy watched, the scowl deepening, as her ebony eyes surveyed the room before settling on him. The scorn that lit her face made Troy roll his eyes.

"Please tell me that they didn't set this up." Her voice may have been disgusted but Troy had to give her points for understanding the setup as quickly as she did.

"Right in one." He nodded.

"Are they stupid?" She asked and Troy shrugged. Instead of attacking him, Gabriella spun around to face their best friends. "Are you stupid?" She shrieked at the couple wrapped around each other.

For a moment, Sharpay and Chad looked like deer's caught in headlights before Sharpay murmured something to her boyfriend and Chad nodded quickly. Troy rolled his eyes as he watched Chad shift behind Sharpay and Gabriella begin to tap her foot impatiently.

"No, we're not stupid. We would just like it if our best friends got along so every time we're all out, we don't have to mediate an argument." Sharpay spoke reasonably and Troy had to give it to the blonde, she appeared to not quail under her best friends furious gaze.

"Oh, so you decided us getting along is going to happen tonight?" Troy snorted at the look on Sharpay's face. It proved that Sharpay had thought that exactly.

"You know, for two people who are meant to be intelligent, and Sharpay I'm referring to you thinking for Chad, you are _so_ _stupid_!" Gabriella exclaimed and Troy nodded.

"I agree." Troy decided to call out without thinking.

Chad's eyes widened dramatically. "We're stupid! He just agreed with you!"

"That's not the point. He agreed with me because you two are stupid!" Gabriella threw her hands in the air and Troy relaxed on the lounge to watch the show.

"Gabs, please, give it an hour." Sharpay begged and Gabriella shook her head.

"Uh-uh. No. Not going to happen. How can you expect me to be in the same room as the Neanderthal?" Gabriella asked, waving her hand behind her at him.

"Which Neanderthal are you talking about?" Troy asked pleasantly, not appreciating the term but weighing watching Gabriella tear into his best friend between getting into an argument over her referring to him as a Neanderthal.

Gabriella whirled around at his question and pointed at him accusingly. "You! You are the damn Neanderthal!"

"Ouch. That hurts."

Gabriella rolled her eyes at his sarcasm. "Yeah, I'm sure trying to understand the word hurts."

"It's called sarcasm, Montez. Ever heard of it?"

"Oh I've heard of it Bolton. I'm just surprised you know how to use it!"

"It only appears when you're around. I'm a nice guy. Usually."

"Really? Does that side come out every once in a lifetime?"

Troy rolled his eyes. "No. You just make it shrivel up and die. Like every guys –"

"Okay! Troy, remember what I said." Chad shot his best friend a meaningful look as Troy leaned back against the couch, his scowl menacing as Gabriella glared angrily, a glimmer of hurt masked by fury.

"Gabs, please. An hour." Sharpay added, gripping Chad's waist as Gabriella glanced back at her best friend. Sharpay's pleading tone worked and she nodded once in assent.

"Fine." Troy folded his arms and Chad and Sharpay exchanged a glance. "I stand by what I said earlier. If she becomes unbearable, I'm out."

Gabriella's gaze hardened. "Same goes. If he becomes unbearably impossible, I'm gone."

"Bet you I'm gone before you." Troy muttered under his breath. She couldn't help but be self-righteous and irritating. It was intricately part of her and it irritated the hell out of him.

"Troy." Chad spoke warningly and Troy ignored him, knowing that if Chad had heard him then Gabriella would have. His eyes jumped to her and Troy felt a spark of pleasure at the look on her face. He knew there was a comment just waiting to burst from her lips and he wanted to hear what it was.

"Gabs." Sharpay's own warning had Gabriella huffing and folding her arms. Troy raised a mocking eyebrow at her look, hoping it would provoke her. For a moment, Troy thought that it was going to work until her shoulders relaxed and she stalked past him to sit on the couch.

Sharpay and Chad exchanged a glance, as Gabriella pressed close to the end of the lounge and Troy let his head drop into his hands.

"Um, Shar, are you sure this was a good idea?" Chad whispered to his girlfriend as Troy shot Gabriella a look of pure loathing.

"Yes. They need to get over whatever it is that makes them act like this." Sharpay gave a derisive nod and Chad raised his eyebrows. "I don't care if they end up killing each other or jumping each other, by the end of this night, they are going to get along or, at least, be somewhat civil with each other."

Chad snorted. "Jumping each other, babe? Troy and Gabriella are as a likely to jump each other as Miss Darbus is to admit her undying love for Coach Bolton."

Sharpay rolled her eyes at her boyfriend's short-sightedness. Only a real idiot would be able to miss the waves of sexual tension emitting from Troy and Gabriella. Something sparked whenever the two were in the same room, something, Sharpay thought with a private smile, that made her wonder what would happen if it was sparked a different way.

Though it was an old, worn cliché, Sharpay couldn't help but look at the two people in front of her and know that beneath the thin layer of heavy dislike was an ocean of tension just waiting to be released. She had no qualms in giving that ocean a reason to stir and she couldn't help but hope that in the next few hours the ocean would flood quite dramatically. If they did, it would make her life a whole lot easier and, apart from that, there would be nothing more pleasurable than watching Troy and Gabriella explode on each other.

Grinning, Sharpay turned to link her arms around her boyfriend's neck. "Yes, jumping each other Chad. Can't you see all that hate is actually just your buddy being irritated with himself because he finds Gabriella hot and wants to pin her to a bed and do all sorts of unspeakable things to her?"

For a moment, Chad simply stared at his girlfriend, unable to formulate an answer that would adequately cover what he thought of her question. "Uh. No."

"Mmm-hmm. Can't you just see that Gabriella's annoyed at herself because she _wants_ Troy to pin her to a bed and do all sorts of unspeakable things to her?" Sharpay asked again, leaning forward to tease his jaw with her lips.

"Again, no."

Sharpay drew back, annoyed at her boyfriends flat tone. "Then you really are unobservant. Watch them tonight. Troy'll spend the next half hour eyeing Gabriella's legs because they look awesome in her jeans."

Before Chad could respond to the statement, Troy spoke. "Are you two going to stop sucking face so we can do whatever it is you brought us over here to do?"

Troy chose to ignore Sharpay's indignant noise as he told himself he needed to look somewhere other than Gabriella's legs. And he needed to stop himself from appreciating that the jeans seemed to cling to her legs like a second skin. It irritated him that those legs, those perfectly shaped legs, were attached to such an annoying girl.

"So, Chad has Saw III. I was thinking we could watch that." Sharpay stated matter-of-factly, she knew that if she spoke innocently Gabriella would know she was planning something so she kept her voice flat and her face passive.

"Uh-huh. Looking forward to blood and gore tonight, Shar?" Troy asked, his eyes flicking over to look at the blonde who screwed up her face at his question.

"Sure. Why not? It gives me an excuse to cuddle with my boyfriend." Sharpay said and Troy snorted.

"Uh-huh. Want to make Chad feel like the man in the relationship tonight?" Troy said and chose to ignore Gabriella snort of laughter. Instead, his eyes slipped to her legs again and he cursed himself silently.

"Shut it Bolton. Are we watching Saw or not?" Chad snapped, letting go of his girlfriend's waist to stalk toward the TV cabinet. Troy chuckled at his friend's irritation and leaned back, watching as Chad turned on the television and DVD player.

"Apparently, we're watching Saw." Troy muttered and watched as Chad slipped the disc into the player and then headed over to the plush recliner, remote control in hand. Troy watched as Chad sat down and Sharpay settled comfortably on his lap which was a strange site, Troy thought with a frown.

He didn't think he'd ever seen Chad and Sharpay curl up so comfortably together before. Generally, Troy thought, they weren't into huge public displays of affection which was surprising considering their personalities. Sharpay was loud, demanding and occasionally rude and Chad was amusing, obnoxious and demanded attention. They were, Troy had thought privately, the type of couple to over indulge in public displays of affection. Except now they didn't seem to, instead they seemed to be acting like a couple comfortable in their affection for each other.

"Hey, how long have you two been together?" Though he knew he was going to regret asking the question, Troy couldn't help himself. Sharpay shot him a disgusted look and he raised an eyebrow. "What? I don't exactly listen to him when he talks about anniversaries and shit."

"A year, Bolton, they've been together for a year." Troy's eyes snapped from the couple sitting in the recliner to where Gabriella was sitting and he raised an eyebrow.

"Was I talking to you?" He snapped and Gabriella shrugged.

"Did you want Sharpay to take chunks out of you?"

"No. But I didn't think you were going to willingly talk to me either."

That caught her, Troy thought smugly as her eyes widened a fraction and she quickly turned her gaze away from him to look at the television as Chad pressed play. Instead of turning his attention towards the movie, Troy watched Gabriella for a second longer, noting the blush spreading across her cheek and wondering at it.

Realizing that someone was watching him, Troy quickly pulled his eyes away from her ignoring the look Sharpay was giving him as he turned his attention to the opening credits of Saw III.

It was halfway through the movie when Troy found that he was thirsty. Glancing around the living room, Troy raised his eyebrows at Chad who was murmuring something to Sharpay as his girlfriend clung to his neck. His eyes slid from the couple to the girl sitting next to him and he noted, with amusement, that she was sitting rather rigidly her eyes squeezing shut every time she was sure that something bad was going to happen.

Standing, Troy mimed drinking to Chad who had looked up at him curiously. Chad nodded and then pointed towards the basement. Troy lifted a hand in understanding and headed towards the basement door. Opening it, Troy headed down the stairs, hitting the light on his way down.

Reaching the stack of soft drinks sitting in one corner of the basement, Troy looked longingly at the old television with the x-box hooked up to it and wished that Haley hadn't banned them from the basement when she'd found the alcohol they still swore wasn't theirs. It was unfair how Haley had jumped to conclusions and eliminated one of the only spaces where it was possible for him and Chad to hang out by calling his parents and telling them what she'd found. He supposed it hadn't helped that both he and Chad had been sarcastic about the discovery, telling their parents at least they hadn't found syringes or that strange smell that hung around one of their teammates, Jason.

Eyeing the couch and then glancing up the stairs, Troy made the split second decision to flop onto the couch, crack open the bottle of coke and wait until he was sure she'd gone. That way he avoided her, her legs and the look she gave him that just riled him up. The only downside of his plan was that he'd leave Chad and Sharpay's sex life intact.

But still, Troy thought philosophically opening the bottle and taking a long drink, at least he didn't have to deal with the devil incarnate up there.

Closing his eyes and swinging his feet up onto the couch, Troy sank down and rested his back against the arm of the couch. This, he thought, was so much better than watching Saw III.

* * *

Gabriella wrinkled her nose slightly as she opened her eyes and was met with an image that she was sure would scar her for the rest of life. Sharpay had shifted so she was straddling her boyfriend and they were, Gabriella thought with disgust, attached at the mouth.

Glancing towards the television, Gabriella saw blood and felt her stomach turn. Without a thought she stood up, adjusting her shirt and Gabriella glanced at the two and then decided to interrupt.

"Ahem."

Sharpay shifted slightly and Gabriella rolled her eyes as Chad's hand slid up Sharpay's back and into her hair.

"Guys? Sharpay?" Gabriella rolled her eyes as Sharpay shifted again and they continued to kiss. "Okay, Chad? Where are your drinks? Because I'm actually kind of thirsty." At her question, Sharpay suddenly pulled back and turned her head.

"What did you say?" The blonde asked, clamping her hand over her boyfriend's mouth before Chad could answer Gabriella's question and say something possibly damaging to the plan that was forming in her mind.

"I need a drink. So, where are they?" Gabriella asked and Sharpay smirked slightly.

"In the basement." The blonde replied and barely flinched when Chad bit into her hand. Gabriella eyed her and Sharpay smiled. "Go out, turn to your left and I'm pretty sure the doors already open." Gabriella raised an eyebrow and then shrugged.

"Okay then. Do you guys want anything?" She asked and Sharpay yanked her hand away from Chad's mouth and pressed it against his chest in order to cover the bite mark on her hand.

"Actually, yeah – "

"No. No. We're good." Sharpay smiled innocently and Gabriella nodded and cautiously headed out of the room. Sharpay watched her go and then slid off Chad's lap.

"Hey! First you deny me a drink then you deny me alone time?" Chad complained and Sharpay turned around to glare at him.

"Oh be quiet. We'll get alone time, I just have to lock the basement door." Sharpay snapped at him and Chad's eyes widened at his girlfriends words. Before he could grab her hand and stop her, Sharpay had left the room and Chad, swearing under his breath, followed her.

"Shar, as much as I love you, this is stupid! Troy's down there!" He hissed as Sharpay grabbed the door handle, glancing down the stairs in order to make sure that Gabriella wasn't standing on them.

"Duh. Double purpose, dork. They can work out their problems and we can make out without interruption." Sharpay hissed back at him and carefully shut the door.

"Uh-huh. One problem, the door locks from both the inside and the outside." Chad folded his arms. While he enjoyed making out with his girlfriend without interruption, he liked having his best friend around more and Sharpay's plan gave him a feeling that the best friend he liked more wouldn't be around for much longer.

"Well, it can't open when the handle doesn't turn, can it?" Sharpay asked smugly, reaching for the chair that sat in the hallway with no particular purpose.

Seeing what she was about to do, Chad groaned out loud.

He was _so_ going to regret helping his girlfriend.

* * *

Troy heard footsteps on the stairs and groaned out loud at the thought of someone interrupting his solitude. With another groan, he sat up assuming it was Chad coming to get him and drained his can of coke.

"Jesus, dude, I didn't think you – oh. Its you."

Gabriella paused on the second last step at his greeting and glared at him as he crushed the can and threw it in the bin in front of him. Frowning, he rose from where he had been quietly laying and took a step toward her.

"Get any closer, Bolton, and I'll castrate you." She warned, her eyes flashing and he raised an eyebrow.

"Gee, Montez. Don't you think it's a little early to pull out the threats?"

"No." She snapped back and he bit back a chuckle. "Where're the drinks?" She asked after a moment.

He gestured towards the stack where he had gotten his coca-cola from.

"Over there. How's the movie going?" He asked, watching as she headed over there, making sure to give him a wide berth.

"Wonderfully. Chad and Shar are attached at the mouth and people are dying on the screen in front of me, I'm sure I'd be scarred for life if you hadn't already taken care of scarring me to within an inch of my life." Gabriella replied dryly as she opened a can of coke.

Troy snorted. "What can I say? I try."

"Don't I know it." She muttered.

"Oh, so you have noticed I try?"

She rolled her eyes. "You don't have to try, Bolton, you do admirably just by _being_."

"Ooh. That sounds like a compliment. Are you complimenting me, Miss Montez?" He said coolly and Gabriella snorted.

"Why would I even want to compliment someone who's ego is the already the size of Australia?"

Troy considered her analogy for a moment, his head tilted to one side slightly before he grinned.

"The size of Australia? That's not bad. Not true, but not a bad comparison."

"Oh, and you know its not true because its your ego, right?" Gabriella sneered, irritated that he hadn't taken the bait she'd thrown him.

"Of course. Just like you know that you're brains really not the size of Russia, at the time of Stalin of course." Troy said with a satisfied smirk as her eyes flashed.

If there was one thing he knew that would rile Gabriella Montez, it was bringing her intelligence into the argument. Whether sneering something about how her intelligence would never help her snag a date or snapping out something about the size of her brain, she always, _always_, responded in a way that entertained.

"Oh, for the love of God, anything is better than _this_." She suddenly snapped out and whirled around to stomp back up the stairs, all but growling as she climbed the stairs.

Disappointed that she hadn't taken the bait, Troy frowned before following her up the stairs. At a distance.

"Wow. I never thought I'd see the day you didn't have a comeback to something I said." He started conversationally as she reached the top of the stairs.

She shot him a deadly look that warned him just how far he could go before she decided to act on her earlier threat. He raised an eyebrow in return. Then chuckled as she shoved at the door.

"It's a door, Gabriella. You turn the handle and you pull it open. Quite simple, really."

"Thank you, Troy, for telling me you know how to work a door." She snapped at him. "It won't open. I think we've been locked in."

Troy stared at her. There was no way in hell she could lie about something like that because it meant she was stuck in exactly the same situation as he was. Locked in a room with someone they couldn't stand.

"_Fuck._"

* * *

A/N: Well, I hope that was okay! Anyway, I'll try and update TLNR tomorrow or Wednesday at the latest. I hope you guys liked it!


	2. Chapter 2: Dead

Disclaimer: I do not own 'High School Musical' or any related characters.

A/N: I'm glad you guys enjoyed the first chapter, and as I said, this story is basically written, so I figured I'd better post the next chapter. I hope you guys enjoy it!

* * *

**_Locked In_**

**Chapter Two: Dead**

"Sharpay, I am going to kill you! When I get out of here, I am going to kill you!"

"Chad? You are a dead man walking. You hear me? Dead. Man. Walking."

Sharpay bit her lip at the promise of violence in both their friends voices.

Maybe this hadn't been the really good idea she'd thought it was.

Then again, she reasoned, they were locked in Chad's basement with absolutely no way of escape until she or Chad decided to take the chair away and unlock the door.

Which was _so_ not going to happen while they were both spewing out death threats. Seriously, how stupid did they think they were?

Leaning back against the wall both she and Chad were standing by, Sharpay stared at the door thoughtfully, ignoring the death threats and wondering how long it would take before Troy and Gabriella turned on each other.

And blamed her locking the door on each other.

Oh, how she wished she could hear _that_ argument.

The interesting thing about listening to Troy and Gabriella argue was that both were quick-witted and intelligent. Neither let a comment pass them by and both thought through every counter they made to the others argument. It certainly made for some explosions at the most inconvenient of times, Sharpay thought, remembering vaguely the many times she'd had to drag Gabriella away from Troy at parties, restaurants and - the most entertaining by far - the middle of a darkened cinema.

That little blow-up had been the one that had tipped her off about the layer of attraction hidden beneath the snipes and sarcasm.

Nose to nose, she remembered with a smirk, breathing heavily, too focused on each other to see the film - or anyone and anything else. They'd looked two seconds away from murdering each other...or Troy dragging her to the floor to have his way with her best friend.

She'd really been quite shocked when she realized what she was seeing. Then she'd found it very interesting. Before settling on the fact that it was one of the funniest things she'd ever seen in her life.

She still thought it was.

It just didn't mean that locking them in the basement was one of the smartest things she'd ever done.

"Sharpay? You know those shoes you love? The Gucci's? They are going to die a slow, painful death when I get out of here."

Sharpay winced.

Then she heard something crack.

"Fucking hell Chad. Do you really want me to commit double homicide? 'Cause I will. Get me the fuck out of here!"

Feeling someone watching her, Sharpay turned her head and offered an apologetic smile to her boyfriend, who had his arms folded tightly across his chest and was glaring at her while wincing every time the door in front of them cracked.

"And you thought this was a fucking _good idea_." He hissed. "Troy's going to break the fucking door down if we don't let them out!"

Sharpay glared back. "Oh, so we let them out and they can commit murder? No, thank you. I prefer my Gucci's were I can see them in my closet!"

"Fuck your shoes, Shar. You're not going to be able to wear them when they get out of there! Can you not hear Troy whacking the door in an attempt to get away from your friend?"

"Of course I can hear it. I'm just not going to let them out when they're quite clearly going to kill us. Slowly. Painfully. And without mercy."

Chad snorted. "So you're going to leave them in there were they can plan our murders so we won't ever see them coming? Christ, Sharpay, you're ideas are getting smarter and smarter!"

Sharpay opened her mouth to snap back at her boyfriend when she was cut off by their two friends.

"_Get us the hell out of here!"_

Crap. Now they were speaking in unison and Sharpay had a funny feeling Troy was going to beat the door down just get out of there as it cracked again.

"What do you me to do?" She whispered to her boyfriend who shrugged.

"I'm going to vote with letting them out now and salvaging this evening. Fuck them getting along." He replied, his tone clearly implying he wasn't going to let her argue with him.

It was the one he used when he was going to win an argument no matter what and Sharpay hated it.

"Yeah, well, I vote we leave them in there, wait until they tire themselves out and then open the door when they're asleep!" She snapped out at him and he raised an eyebrow.

"What are they? Three?"

Sharpay bristled and then Troy hit the door so hard the door groaned under the pressure.

"Chad? You know those shorts you love? Your lucky ones? I'm going to burn them. Along with your baseball card collection. And you're going to watch."

"Sharpay? You know your closet? The huge thing that is the size of my room? I'm going to tie you to a chair right in the middle of it and then force you to watch as I decimate every single piece of clothing and accessories you own. Including everything Gucci, Vuitton and Valentino. The _vintage_ collection."

Sharpay went dead white at her friends threat and swayed slightly.

Hell, this had seriously _not_ been a good idea.

Chad slid an arm around her waist to steady her and looked at the door shakily.

"Maybe we shouldn't let them out just yet." He said.

"_I fucking heard that!_" Troy hit the door so hard this time, Chad's eyes widened as he saw a crack appear.

Sharpay burrowed against his side. "I think a movie sounds really good right now."

"Pizza afterwards sound pretty awesome, too, actually." Chad added, rubbing her back absently.

"Sharpay Marie Evans, don't you _dare _leave me locked in this basement!"

"Shall we go out then?" Sharpay raised her eyes to her boyfriend's and Chad grinned.

"Sounds great. Let's go."

"Sharpay, don't you dare fucking leave me locked in here!"

Sharpay winced again. Crap. Gabriella never swore. Ever. Unless she was provoked into such fury that she couldn't help herself.

And the only times she couldn't help herself was when Troy was having a go at her.

Leaving sounded like such a good idea.

"Chad, I swear to God, if you leave me in here with her I'll kill you so slowly you'll wish that you'd let me out now!"

Sharpay glanced up at her boyfriend who - to his credit - didn't even flinch at Troy's threat.

Instead, he began to lead her out of the house and away from the door and their two friends locked behind it.

* * *

"_Sharpay!" _

"_Chad!_"

Troy heard the door shut and knew that Chad and Sharpay had left.

"Fuck. Me." He breathed, lowering his throbbing hand and wondering what the hell they were meant to do now.

"No, thank you." Gabriella snapped back obnoxiously. "What are we going to do now?"

Troy glared at her.

"I'll let you know." Then he added. "And if I were to fuck you, you'd still be saying thank you, just not as obnoxiously."

Gabriella growled.

Troy blinked. Holy shit. He hadn't known she could make _that_ sound.

If he hadn't been so pissed off, he would have made some sexist comment that was sure to have her going through the fucking ceiling.

As it was, what he was going to say next was going to send her through the fucking ceiling.

"I can't believe you let her do lock us in!"

Gabriella blinked.

Then her face went black.

"_I _let her lock us in? _I_ did? I'm the one that was stupid enough to stay down here when we were meant to be watching a movie upstairs?" She spat out indignantly.

"What was I meant to do? Sit there and enjoy the tension?"

"How about not come?"

"Oh, yeah, bright idea. Would've put that into action if I'd known you were coming!"

"If I'd known you were there, then I would've kept my bright idea to myself."

"No. You wouldn't have. You would have had to tell someone about your genius answer to the problem of me. You can't keep your mouth shut about things like that!"

She bristled. Troy actually saw her start shaking with anger and really wanted to hit the door again, just to relieve some of the anger that he _really_ wanted to take out on his best friend.

"Oh, that's just typical isn't? You start attacking my intelligence to make up for the lack of yours."

"Oh, yeah, brilliant theory there. Who'd you work with on that? Freud? I have to lack something in order to take a shot at you about something your so fundamentally insecure about." He snapped, ignoring the way she flinched and feeling a sort of dark pleasure at the way she'd reacted.

Fuck. He was so getting worse when it came to her.

He'd taken low blows at her before, but never something that mean.

Though, he thought, it was true. She really was insecure about her intelligence. Any idiot could see it.

And if he used it against her? Well, that was his problem for letting her work him up so much.

Still, did she have to provoke him so much?

"Ugh. You. Are. Impossible." Gabriella threw her hands in the air and then shoved past him to climb back down the stairs.

Troy followed her.

At a distance.

He was still fuming and knew better than to take it out on Gabriella.

Even if she was the most infuriating person he'd ever met in his life and had a best friend who had shit for brains, she wasn't to blame for what their friends had done. She was - much as it pained him to admit - a victim in this.

So taking it out on her, no matter how badly he wanted too, was not an option.

Which left only one option.

Flop down on the couch, close his eyes and ignore her until they were let out so they could kill their friends.

Because it sounded like such an appealing idea, Troy stalked past Gabriella - who had stopped on the last step and was looking around, her nose wrinkled in distaste - and let out a breath as he fell onto the couch and closed his eyes.

The silence that followed was, in his opinion, the best thing that had happened since the night began.

Silence was nice. Silence was easy. Silence was calming.

Silence was seriously making him uncomfortable.

With a grunt and a very real desire to completely ignore why the silence had started to be uncomfortable when it was one of the things - besides argue - that he and Gabriella did well, Troy shifted down slightly and folded his arms across his chest.

"_Fuck_." He yelped as the hand he'd been banging against the door throbbed painfully and he realized he'd shredded it to pieces.

"What? What's wrong?"

He didn't really register Gabriella's question as he sat up and glared at the hand that he really only just realized was bleeding and, he swallowed harshly, had little bits of wood stuck in it.

Fucking hell. He _so_ did not need this right now.

From the tip of his little finger to his wrist had been torn open as he'd pounded against the door and Troy really wished that he'd been paying more attention to his physical well-being rather than his mental.

Because he could block things out when they didn't agree with him but he needed his fucking hand to play basketball and his dad was not going to be happy when he saw what Troy had done to it.

Though, Troy thought with a pained smirk, his dad also wasn't going to be happy because the reason he'd shredded his hand was because Chad had locked them in a basement.

That might make up for a few things, Troy thought with a wicked grin.

"Troy? Hello? You didn't answer my question." Gabriella sounded annoyed and Troy glanced at her dismissively.

"Can you get me the first aid kit? There should be one in the cupboard besides the fridge."

She folded her arms and he really, _really _wanted to hit her when a stubborn look settled on her face. He really hated that look. It meant she was going to argue, he'd seen it enough times to know exactly what it meant.

"Why should I get it when you haven't even told me what you've done to your idiot self?" She snapped at him and he groaned.

"Jesus Christ, woman. Just get me the damn first aid kit. I'm bleeding here."

Her eyes flared and Troy really wished he hadn't called her woman. An argument was really not what he needed right now.

"For God's sake Gabriella, I've torn open the side of my fucking hand. Its bleeding and I really need you to get me the damn first aid kit!"

She opened her mouth, her eyes blazing and he shot her an icy look that had her gaze narrowing and her hands clenching into fists. Then she gave in.

With a huff that reminded him of a child, she stomped over to the cupboard and yanked open the door.

Troy waited patiently as she rummaged through the cupboard before finally slamming the door shut and walking over to him, her eyes hard.

"Christ, I didn't realize that asking you to do something would result in a tantrum." He commented sarcastically as she handed him the kit.

"Fuck you, Bolton. Fuck. You."

"We've already established that you wouldn't, but if you've changed your mind, I'm happy to oblige." Troy smirked at her and waited for the quicksilver anger, the flaring in her eyes that let him know he was in for a fight.

When it didn't happen, he raised an eyebrow. "Surprising, Montez. No comeback. Do you really want me to oblige?"

She didn't blush and he would have been disappointed if she had.

What he didn't expect was the way her eyes went flat and the tone of her voice when she spoke.

"I don't want to argue with you right now Troy, I want you to fix your hand so you can get us the hell out of here." She said and his eyes widened as she moved away from him to curl up in an armchair and wait for him to fix himself up.

As he opened the kit, he had a feeling he really wasn't going to like why her eyes had gone flat or why her tone had gone so hard. There was something going on in that head of hers and Troy knew that he was the last person on earth that would have the ability to deal with whatever she was thinking. Provoking her into an argument? No problem. Dealing with thoughts of being trapped in the stupid basement forever? He'd much rather have hell open up and fire envelop him before he tried to help.

Not because he was a jerk or anything, but because really? He wasn't exactly the guy people turned to him when there was a problem.

He _caused_ problems. Not fixed them.

With his brow furrowed in concentration, Troy turned his attention to his hand and - with a inward wince at how painful this was going to be - picked up an antiseptic wipe and began to clean up the dried blood on his hand while stemming the trickle. It stung like a bitch and he gritted his teeth and kept going, wondering how Gabriella was staying quiet through this.

Because this would be the time to torment him, really. When he was in pain and dealing with it all himself.

Except she didn't say anything and a knot began to form in his stomach because he wasn't too sure when she'd flipped the switch and gone from tearing into him to sitting silent as a stone.

Grabbing some padding, Troy gingerly placed it over his wound and then began to wind a bandage around his hand to hold it in place. It was a terrible job on a hand he knew needed some other treatment but it was the best he could do. He'd only ever dealt with sprains and twisted ankles and torn skin wasn't something he was used too.

So he figured knowing how to wrap a bandage around a sprained wrist was better than nothing.

As he pulled to tighten it, he glanced over at the girl he'd been locked in with and furrowed his brow.

She was unnaturally still.

Like she was holding herself so stiffly, she wasn't even breathing.

It was creepy.

Having never been in a situation like this before - unwillingly of course - Troy really wasn't sure what to make of Gabriella sitting completely still in the armchair. Because he'd never been in one of these situations, for the very first time in a very long time, he let his imagination run completely wild. So many scenarios ran though his mind as he stared at the girl sitting in the armchair.

She was dead. She was sitting so still so that when he went to sleep - that was inevitable, there was nothing to do down here since Haley had cut the power supply - she would creep over to him and kill him. She - Troy's eyes widened at another possibility so ludicrous it could be true.

"Crap. They haven't locked me down here with a vampire have they?"

Shit.

He'd said that out loud.

Gabriella's head jerked around at his question and she stared at him like he'd gone mad.

Which he probably had, he admitted silently.

Seeing her sitting there so still had tightened that knot in his stomach and he was pretty sure that letting his imagination run wild hadn't been the best plan to counteract that knot - even though he had no idea what the knot _meant _let alone why it had formed in the first place.

It wasn't worry.

Because, quite seriously, why would he worry about a girl who drove him to the edge of insanity and had legs that went on forever?

"I am _not_ a vampire, you idiot." Her tone was spiteful as she spoke and Troy raised an eyebrow.

Ah, there she was. There's the girl that drove him insane.

"So why the sullen expression and lack of communication?"

"Maybe because I don't want to waste my breath talking to you." She snapped, her eyes darting to him and then around the room.

Troy raised an eyebrow. "If you didn't want to waste your time talking to me, why argue with me every time we're in the same room?"

"Because someone has to dent your ego, I believe we already established that." Gabriella shifted uncomfortably in the armchair and Troy looked at her curiously.

If he wasn't mistaken - and he rarely was - Gabriella was becoming seriously uncomfortable and he wondered why that was.

"Ah yes, my ego. What is it, apparently? The size of Australia?" He asked.

"I would've gone with Russia, but you already beat me to that." Her tone was spiteful but lacked any serious bite and Troy stared at her.

She was seriously uncomfortable.

"Gabriella - "

"Troy, can you just get us out of here? I'm sure you know a secret door somewhere." She cut him off, an edge to her voice he didn't recognize and shifted again. Curling tighter into herself, Troy realized.

"Uh. Sure. See, that's going to be a problem." He said with a half smile.

"Why?"

"Well, because the only way to get out of this basement is to go through the door our dear friends locked. So, we're stuck down here until they or Chad's parents return."

Troy wasn't sure he'd ever seen someone go dead white in so little time.

Crap. All he'd had to say was there was one door and she looked like she was going to faint.

Moving faster than he thought possible, he shifted over to her side and then stood there, unsure whether or not he should touch her.

Because he really wouldn't put it past her to slap him away even when she looked like she was about to hyperventilate.

"Gabriella? What's wrong?"

She didn't answer for a moment. Apparently trying to control her breathing and, with her eyes squeezed shut, she let out a shallow breath before speaking.

"I'm scared of basements."

Troy froze.

What. The. _Fuck?_

Chad was dead.

Dead.


	3. Chapter 3: Truth or Dare

Disclaimer: I do not own 'High School Musical' or any related characters.

A/N: So, I'm going away for a week and instead of the updates coming to a grinding halt, I figured I'll update now and then again when I get back so hopefully that's okay for you all.

Anyway, I'm glad you're all enjoying the story and I hope this chapter lives up to expectations!

* * *

**_Locked In_**

**Chapter Three: Truth or Dare**

Troy was seriously at a loss.

It had taken him less than three seconds to realize that Gabriella was actually getting worse, not better.

He winced. He probably shouldn't have told her that the only way out was through the locked door.

But seriously, how was he meant to know she was going to start hyperventilating and rocking herself as he fought of whatever demon he'd managed to unleash on her?

Fuck.

She was hyperventilating and rocking herself.

How the hell had he missed that?

She was seriously frightened now.

What the hell was he meant to do?

He'd never dealt with anyone who had a panic attack nor had he ever dealt with a situation where he was locked in his best friends basement with a girl he couldn't stand, watching said girl start convulsing in panic.

Swallowing hard, Troy knelt down so he was in front of Gabriella. Still afraid to touch her lest he get slapped, he linked his hands and let them hang between his knees as he watched the girl in front of him.

"Gabriella? Gabriella?" He really hoped that his tone was soothing as he looked at her. "Gabriella, calm down. Just...concentrate on my voice. I'm right in front of you. Come on, now." That, Troy thought with some satisfaction, was something you said to someone having what looked like a panic attack and you had no clue what to do, right?

Except...she didn't respond.

So he tried a different tact.

"Montez. Quit it and concentrate on my voice." He tried the clipped, patronizing tone that worked so well when he was riling her up.

He kind of figured that getting her angry would be easy.

He had a talent for it after all.

Except.

That didn't work either and Troy - who's brain had been short-circuited thanks to his imagination running to vampires and beyond - ran his hand through his hair as he ran out of ideas.

Seriously ran out of ideas.

Well, ones that didn't involve touching her at all.

Christ.

He had no idea how to comfort girls.

The few girlfriends he'd had hadn't exactly cried when they'd been together. Neither had they had panic attacks or not responded to him, _at all._

But then again, Gabriella wasn't exactly his girlfriend was she?

She was just the girl that drove him to the edge of insanity and looked way too good in a pair of jeans.

And any other article of clothing that he ever saw her in.

Troy swore viciously under his breath. Now was so not the time to think about the fact that Gabriella looked fantastic in anything she wore. Especially seeing as he was certain she could pull off wearing a potato sack and the thought of her in a bikini took his brain to some very interesting places which it shouldn't seeing as he'd spent the last year driving her completely insane because he couldn't help but be irritated by her superior attitude to everything, including him.

Even if he did have a feeling that she only had it because she was shy by nature and insecure about her intelligence.

Christ, when had become a fucking shrink? Troy thought, rubbing a hand over his face and trying to think of _something_ to do that would yank Gabriella from her state of panic.

He was really out of options and - not being one to think through things - Troy did the only thing he could really think of that made any sense to him whatsoever.

He rose from his crouched position slowly, just in case he startled. Not that, Troy thought as he looked at her, she was paying any attention to him but just in case.

Then, with considerable care he thought was beyond him when it came to Gabriella, he scooped her up in his arms and sat in the armchair, settling her on his lap and holding her there tightly.

He really thought he was going to get slapped when she stiffened for a moment.

So it shocked the hell out of him when, instead of slapping him or snapping out of her state of panic, Gabriella turned into him. She buried her face in the crook of his neck and her knuckles turned white as she clutched his shirt.

But what really unsettled him was how easily she fit in his lap. How easy it was for her face to press into his neck and how easy it was for him to simply hold her there.

Deciding to leave that bit of information for later, Troy tentatively rubbed a hand up her back and then back down again.

"Shh. Come on Gabriella, calm down. Nothings going to happen in the basement. We'll be out of here sooner than we think."

Okay, that was a lie, Troy thought grimly. For all he knew, Chad and Sharpay could decide to leave them in the damn basement for the night and come back some time tomorrow afternoon. As for Chad's parents, well, Troy doubted there would be anything for Haley to get from the basement when she got back from her break with her husband so there wasn't any reason for her to come down here when she got home.

Though, she could see the door locked and wonder why it had been locked, Troy supposed.

But there was no real point in dwelling on it, so Troy turned his attention back to the girl curled up on his lap and ran his hand back up again, his fingers tangling in the ends of her hair automatically when he came into contact with it.

"Breathe deeply, Gabriella. Deep breaths and concentrate on me for a moment. Don't think about being scared." He murmured into her hair and felt something inside him ease as she took her first deep breath in twenty minutes.

Holy crap. She hadn't been hyperventilating for twenty minutes, had she?

It didn't matter, Troy decided quickly, her breathing was evening out even as he ran his hand back down and then up along her spine again.

"That's it. Another deep breath and then you'll be okay, yeah? You're coming back to reality." And was seriously going to kill him when she realized what he'd done, Troy thought grimly.

Though he could hold on to the hope that she would thank him as she came around.

There was complete silence for a moment as he listened to Gabriella's breathing return to normal and her fists loosen from his shirt, though she didn't let go of him completely, he noted.

And he was really having trouble letting his arms fall from around her. Not to mention the fact that he really liked the way her hair felt wrapped around his fingers.

Oh, fuck, now was certainly not the time to realize that he really liked having her close.

More, maybe, than he liked it when she was spitting fire and irritating the hell out of him.

Now when the hell had he decided he liked her? Troy wondered, irritated.

An hour ago, she'd, well, irritated him.

But he was certain he hadn't _liked _her.

"Troy?"

Her voice was small, raspy and incredulous and Troy really wished he didn't find it kind of sexy.

"Uh. Yeah?"

"Why am I on your lap?"

* * *

Gabriella wasn't sure when she'd started panicking and she wasn't too sure when Troy had settled her into his lap.

What she did know was that she was absolutely terrified.

She'd never been this close to a boy before.

Especially not one who irritated her the way Troy did.

Needless to say, it was an experience to snap back to reality and find herself curled into a hard, muscular body that smelt really, really good and felt really, really good and was actually Troy Bolton.

Bane of her existence.

At least, she figured he was the bane of her existence because he was the only person she knew that could make her so mad she could hit something.

That, she thought, was an accomplishment on so many different levels it wasn't even funny.

She was a non-violent person and she was proud of that fact.

But sometimes, just _sometimes_, she really thought she could take a swing at Troy Bolton and knock the knowing smirk off his face just so she didn't think that he looked so _hot_ sitting there irritating the hell out of her.

Because he did and he always had and Gabriella really hated the fact that she was attracted to someone who could get under her skin so easily. She had reconciled herself to the fact that she found Troy attractive - because, honestly, who wouldn't? - what she hadn't reconciled herself with was that if she stopped finding Troy annoying, if she stopped arguing with him about everything, she could really, really like him.

So she argued with him and made sarcastic comments just to ward him and those thoughts off.

Except, it was very difficult to ward of those thoughts when she was curled up tightly in his lap and he felt so _good_.

"Um, well, you're on my lap because I didn't know how to calm you down so...it seemed like a good idea at the time." Troy offered lamely and Gabriella wondered if he was uncomfortable as he shifted his eyes away from her.

Then she realized she was still on his lap, clinging to him and his fingers were tangled in her hair while the other hand rested comfortably mid-thigh.

This was so not how she expected being locked in a basement was going to go.

If she'd ever imagined being locked in one again - and she'd avoided it purposefully since she was eight years old - it didn't involved being trapped because of some horrendous scheme her best friend had come up with to force her to get along with her boyfriends best friend. Nor did it involve a panic attack she couldn't remember properly.

And it certainly didn't involve coming around and discovering herself curled up tightly in the lap of a boy who irritated her no end and feeling _safe_.

Gabriella blinked slightly at that thought.

Then it fully registered in her brain.

On unsteady legs and a slightly queasy stomach, she shot off Troy's lap and threw herself on the couch she was sure he'd been occupying minutes ago.

The silence was deafening as she risked a glance in his direction and nearly groaned. He had that look that meant he was going to say something sarcastic and there was no way she would be able to stop him.

"You know, I expected slapping and screaming. Not a movement so quick you'd make vampires dizzy."

"Oh, shut it Troy." She snapped and he raised an eyebrow.

"Why?"

"Why shut it? Because you're annoying."

"No," he shook his head. "Why are you afraid of basements? Unless you caught a whiff of weed and then I can tell you with honesty that was Jason. Not me."

Gabriella stared at him.

She really hated the fact that he seemed genuinely curious. If he'd made some sort of joke about it, then she would have deflected it. If he'd tormented her because of it, then she could trade remark for remark - vampires, seriously? - and put off telling him.

But he didn't and he wasn't making jokes and she knew that she owed him for helping her out. He could have just stood over her and watched, befuddled by what she was going through. Then she could have taken a shot at him for being so helpless and felt a little better over her anxiety attack.

"I - uh - got locked in grandparents basement when I was eight. I followed my dad down to help him with something and got distracted by this box of Grandma's old things. So, Dad accidentally locked me down there. It was creepy. One of those really dark, dank basements you think that serial killers plan their next kills in. They've freaked me out ever since." Gabriella tried to keep her voice steady as she spoke - God knows it was embarrassing enough that he'd seen what he'd seen - and really hated the fact that it trembled as she had a flashback to the horrible basement of her grandparents and the fear that she was never going to get out of it.

Troy was silent for a moment and, glancing at him, Gabriella decided it was certain he was about to take a shot at her.

Seriously? The face he was making screamed that he was going to say something sarcastic.

And she so did not want to deal with that right now.

"Okay."

Silence returned.

* * *

Infuriating. Irritating. Maddening. Exasperating.

Gorgeous. Sexy. Intelligent. Funny.

Really? They were all the words that he could think of to describe Gabriella Montez?

Eight words - four of which were just synonyms of infuriating - that apparently was how he would describe Gabriella Montez if he was ever on the receiving end of the question 'can you describe Gabriella Montez in ten words or less?'

Why yes, yes he could. He could describe her in eight in fact.

Actually, nine would be more appropriate. Vulnerable came to mind when he thought about her too and not just because of the panic attack earlier.

Troy had spent a lot of time arguing with her over the past year and every time he did, he managed to find himself hitting a sore point that she kept well hidden among others but allowed to be completely exposed when he was arguing with her.

Exhibit A: her intelligence.

Troy wasn't going to pretend he understood why she was so insecure about it. He - begrudgingly - admired her intelligence and respected it. How could he not? She kept his life interesting because not only was she book smart but she had the smarts to be sarcastic as well. Not many people he knew could do that. It took skill to rattle off a complicated equation complete with the answer but it took serious skill to snap back sarcastically to a comment that would normally shut other people down.

That had earned her some serious respect points in his book - and he wasn't even meant to like her.

Exhibit B: her self-confidence.

Insecurity about her intelligence made her insecure when she was talking to anyone. Especially boys and - Christ, he sounds like a shrink. A fucking shrink.

A fucking shrink who was analyzing Gabriella Montez because he had nothing better to do.

Well, Troy thought as he pulled a pillow over his face, not because he had nothing to do but because there was nothing that intrigued him more.

She was infuriating and sexy. Maddening and gorgeous. Exasperating and intelligent. Irritating and vulnerable.

Christ, was it anyone wonder he couldn't get her out of his head?

He supposed too that it didn't help that she was sitting opposite him, drawing circles on her thigh and keeping her eyes firmly planted on the floor. Her hair was falling over one shoulder, sort of like an ebony water -

"Truth or dare?" Troy cut off his own thoughts before they became too ridiculous and said the only thing he could think of.

"Huh?" Her head snapped up in surprise and her finger paused mid-circle.

He sighed impatiently. "Truth or dare?"

"I am _not_ playing that game with you, Bolton."

"Aww, why not? Afraid of what the dare might be?"

She folded her arms defiantly. "No. It's a stupid childish game that I would only play with you if hell froze over."

"Alright, then." Troy nodded cheerfully. "Strip poker it is."

Her eyes narrowed and her tone was icy when she replied. "I wasn't aware there was a choice."

"Weren't you?" He asked innocently. "Sorry, must have slipped my mind."

"I'm not playing strip poker with you, either."

"Shame. You have a seriously crazy body I'd love to see unclothed." She went bright red and Troy grinned. "I suppose its Roxanne, then."

"Roxanne?" She asked, her eyes still narrowed and her tone at odds with how red her face was.

"Yep. We put on the song Roxanne and every time you hear the name, you take a shot. It's fun."

"Wait, let me get this straight." Gabriella's arms fell away from her chest and her tone turned incredulous. "You're saying that if I want to play with you - and I'm not saying I do - I have to perform some horrific dare, like lick the floor repeatedly, strip or get drunk?"

Troy pretended to think about it for a moment.

"Pretty much, yeah."

"I am _not_ playing any of your games, Troy. Ever." She snapped and turned her gaze back to the floor.

"Come on, Montez. Truth or dare?" He whined deliberately, knowing it would irritate the hell out of her.

She didn't reply and Troy decided he could have a little fun with this.

"Alright, I'll play. Truth or dare, Troy?" He smirked when her eyes flew to his in disbelief. "Dare." He answered himself, enjoying the way her eyes narrowed at the mischievous sparkle in his eyes.

"I dare you, Troy, to come over and kiss me."

She went red. Absolutely, pricelessly red and started sputtering as he answered his own question in an awful imitation of her voice.

Troy hadn't been planing on saying something so ridiculous but as he'd sat there, psycho-analyzing her and coming up with nine words to describe her in his mind, he'd discovered he wanted to kiss her. Just to see what she tasted like and maybe so he could see her flustered when he _hadn't _hurt her in a fit of irritation.

Her sputtering increased when he slipped out of his seat easily and strolled over to her, his hands in his pockets. When he reached her, he placed one hand on the arm rest and one on the back of the couch and leaned down, effectively trapping her beneath him.

Her eyes were wide with shock as he leaned down to her, his smirk half smug and half self-deprecating. He paused only an inch from her lips, his eyes focused on hers.

"Truth or dare, Montez?"

* * *

A/N" Cliffhanger! Sorry. But I hope you all enjoyed it anyway and Gabriella's basement nightmare isn't too traumatic just something that's manifested since childhood. I hope you all enjoyed!


	4. Chapter 4: Nervous

Disclaimer: I do not own High School Musical or any related characters.

A/N: So...I couldn't leave you hanging. It felt too cruel. So here's the next chapter! But no updates until next week from now on!

Enjoy.

* * *

_**Locked In**_

**Chapter Four: Nervous**

Gabriella couldn't breathe.

She couldn't move either, and the closer Troy got to her lips, the more her thoughts faded into an incoherent tangle.

She also felt kind of sick to the stomach and maybe her palms where sweating a little bit more than they usually would when he was around and she knew - was perhaps too aware - that if she didn't do something fast, she'd run the risk of finding herself thoroughly kissed by someone she was attracted too and irritated by and - holy crap, had he gotten closer?

Gabriella reacted without thinking.

In the space of twenty seconds, her elbow shot and she elbowed Troy in the hand. _Hard._

The hand that was wrapped in a bandage.

For a split second, she thought that her elbow hadn't made contact and then he winced.

She couldn't help but feel a little disappointed, she'd hoped for yelling and maybe a little scream of pain.

But what disappointed her the most was the way he pulled away, his face hard and his other hand immediately shooting out to cradle the one she'd jabbed with her elbow.

She wasn't sure if that worried her or not.

Disappointed that Troy Bolton hadn't kissed her?

She had a feeling hell had frozen over.

Still, she folded her arms and set her face to impassive as he stared down at her through lowered lids.

"Fuck, Gabriella. That hurt."

She chose not to shiver at the husky timbre of his voice and had a really bad feeling that if she hadn't thrown out her elbow, he would have kissed her. The thought made the shiver she'd controlled ripple down her spine because what really, _really_ worried her was that she was pretty sure she wouldn't have stopped him.

"Sorry." She snapped back flippantly and then thought maybe she should take a quick look, just to make sure he was okay.

The blood that was seeping through the bandage pushed ever other thought from her head.

"Troy! You're bleeding badly. I thought you'd fixed it!"

Her hand reached out of its own accord and she stood so she could examine it better.

Idiot. Didn't he know that cuts where a lot worse than a sprained wrist? The way he'd wrapped the stupid bandage gave perfect support for a bad wrist, not a cut that was bleeding a whole lot more than it had before.

"Sit down." She snapped, pointing to the couch before stepping over and scooping up the first aid kit and everything that had spilled out of it when he'd tried to fix the cut himself.

"Uh. Gabriella? What are you doing?"

She rolled her eyes, reaching for his hand again and pulling it into her lap. Shifting the length of her hair over one shoulder, Gabriella carefully began to unwrap the bandage, concentrating on his hand and trying to not notice the way he was watching her.

"You are such a guy sometimes, you know that? What'd you do? Think that because you know how to strap a wrist, it'd work well for a cut?" She commented, desperately hoping that he would take the bait and stop staring at her.

Troy snorted. "Pretty much. You do realize I don't make a habit of tearing my hand to shreds, right? I happen to need it."

She didn't reply.

She couldn't, she'd bit her lip so hard when she finally saw the jagged tears in his skin that talking was impossible.

"You know, you can have a shot at both of them when we get out of here. This is terrible, Troy." She murmured, her finger delicately tracing down the side of the tears, over the reddened skin before tracing back up.

He didn't reply and Gabriella furrowed her brow at his silence.

Glancing back up, she found her eyes caught and then held by Troy's. His eyes were really, really blue, she thought numbly as they darkened a shade and she felt him trace his thumb gently over her knuckles.

She forgot to breathe again.

His thumb was calloused and tough and it felt really good as he rubbed it back over her knuckles.

She wondered dumbly if it had started snowing in hell as well, as his lips curved into a half smile.

"Gabriella?" He asked quietly and she jolted.

Tearing her eyes away from him, she drew in a deep breath she hadn't realized she needed and dropped her eyes to his hand, focusing determinedly on playing nurse and not the fact that his thumb was still lazily rubbing over her knuckles.

"I'm going to try and get some of the splinters out, okay? It might hurt."

He didn't say anything as she reached for the tweezers in the kit and the only sign that he knew this was going to hurt was a sharp intake of breath when she delicately began to pick out the first of four splinters she could see embedded in the cut.

The silence that fell made her twitchy and Gabriella wished it didn't. She'd always enjoyed the silence with Troy. Not just because it meant she didn't have to speak to him and run the risk of a migraine but because they were easy. An easy silence, she'd discovered, was a rare, rare thing. She was pretty sure that if she hadn't been sure he would have drawn on her face in permanent marker, she could have fallen asleep during the times when they were simply sitting there in silence.

But this silence wasn't easy, it was heavy and Gabriella didn't like the idea it was heavy because it felt heavy with the threat of the kiss Troy had never gone through with.

Which made her wonder if he was going to try it, again. _That_ made her consider what she would do next time he tried to kiss her.

Somehow, she doubted she'd throw her elbow into his sore hand.

And these thoughts are getting really, really dangerous, she thought as she gently pulled out the first splinter and reached for the pack of tissues in the kit. Pulling one out, she gently laid the splinter on the white and then returned to pull out the next one.

"So, do you like vampires?"

Gabriella paused mid-tug and sent her companion a disbelieving look.

"Really? Is that all you can think about? Vampires?"

He raised an eyebrow. "You didn't answer my question. Do you like them?"

'Why? Do you like vampires?" She went back to working on the splinter.

"Well, yeah. Not the _Twilight_ ones, though. They're just...not vampires." A flicker of a smile crossed her lips at his words. "Wait, do I need to ask you Edward or Jacob? Because that could be a problem. One's a creepy stalker and one's a dog, wolf thing."

Glancing up at him, Gabriella smiled and shook her head. "No. I don't like _Twilight_, either. But if you're going to ask, ask me Damon or Stefan."

"Alright, Damon or Stefan?" He sounded curious and Gabriella fought to keep herself from rolling her eyes. Of course he wouldn't know about _The Vampire Diaries, _he was a guy after all.

"Damon. Duh. Stefan's cool but Damon's...hot."

"Yeah, Elena's not bad herself."

Gabriella blinked. She'd been pretty sure that he had no idea what he was asking when he'd mimicked her question but apparently, he did. And she found that beyond strange and maybe a little comforting. It was one thing they had in common besides an unexplainable ability to irritate the hell out of each other.

Troy must have seen the look on her face as he smirked.

"What? You think I don't know about _The Vampire Diaries? _One of my ex's got me hooked and I haven't been able to get out of the habit, yet."

"What about _True Blood_?" She asked curiously and he grinned.

"Brilliant show."

"_Van Helsing?"_

"Hugh Jackman is awesome in that."

"_Blade_?"

"It's okay."

"_Black Dagger Brotherhood?_"

"Fucking sick books. I know they're meant to be romance but hell, they've got all the ingredients for a good action read."

Gabriella blinked.

He really liked vampires and was apparently as into them as she was.

And she didn't find it disturbing that he read the same books as she did nor was she worried by the fact that he watched _The Vampire Diaries_. She supposed that the blood and gore of the show would appeal to guys her age. Maybe.

"Don't analyze it, Montez. I like vampires. It's not an unreasonable thing, if you think about it. Pop culture as of late has been littered with it."

"I wasn't - "

"Yeah, you were. Don't take everything as something and turn it over looking for meanings, Gabriella. It's irritating and it's what exhausts you more often then not."

She nearly dropped the tweezers at his words.

Holy crap, Troy _knew_ her.

How the hell did he know that she did that? How did he know she couldn't help herself when it came to people saying things and exhausting herself because she couldn't figure out what it all meant, no matter what was said?

"How do you know I do that?"

He snorted. "You think I've been arguing with you for like a year and don't pick up on things like that? Come on, Gabriella, does that really sound like me? I used to say stuff to you just to watch you try and figure out what it meant, what angle I was playing."

"You used to do it?"

He shrugged awkwardly. "I stopped. I said something one day and you just looked so tired when I glanced over because you weren't replying. I stopped putting hidden meanings in my words after that. Especially seeing as you exhaust yourself anyway when I say something."

"Oh."

Gabriella looked down and refocused on the splinter, not really seeing it but tugging at it gently anyway.

She needed to think.

* * *

Troy kept his eyes trained on Gabriella's dark head and really wished he could kick himself for what he'd just said to her.

What the hell was coming out of his mouth lately?

First vampires, then truth or dare, then back to vampires again and then he goes and tells her he knows what she does when she hears something and turns it over and over in her head looking for anything that could hurt more than the original words.

He kind of wondered if he was doing it deliberately just to show her that he could be a good guy at times and that of course he knew their arguments affected her.

What was he? Blind?

But then again, he really doubted a lot of people saw what their arguments did to her. Or to him for that matter.

Not that he was ever hurt by what she said but sometimes, she made a point. And it was a point he didn't want someone to make and she was - unwittingly or not - the only person who braved his temper to tell him bluntly exactly what he was doing.

It made him respect her, which was a large reason why he had stopped dropping sentences that worried her to the point of exhaustion.

And maybe, just maybe, it might have made him like her a lot more than he'd originally thought.

Which was an interesting thought considering up until a few minutes ago he'd been sure she'd irritated him but he hadn't liked her and up until three seconds ago the only thing he'd thought all he'd _really _liked was the way her eyes had gone all dreamy and her lips had warmed and her breath had stopped rushing out of her mouth as he'd leaned closer.

But maybe that wasn't right.

Maybe he really did like the way she stood up to him and the way she could snap back at him and the way she could sit beside him in total silence that was so easy, he usually felt like falling asleep when they were just sitting there.

He knew he totally liked her body, though.

Especially her legs.

"What are you thinking about?" Her question snapped him out of the thoughts that had headed into the danger zone and had hit disaster of epic proportions.

Fuck.

"Your legs," he replied easily, his mind still on the rather startling discovery that, while she infuriated him to the point of no return, he might actually like Gabriella Montez.

God knows, he was already hopelessly attracted to her.

Troy's eyes widened at the thought and he was pretty sure that if she hadn't been sitting in front of him, he would be swearing out loud.

As it was, holy fuck.

How had he not seen that?

Seriously. He'd been arguing with her for a fucking year and it had taken until they were locked in a basement together for him to realize he was attracted to her?

Hopelessly attracted, according to his thoughts.

Christ, he sounded like a really bad romance novel.

"Alright, the splinters are out." Her tone was businesslike as she straightened up and Troy barely heard it as she began to rummage through the open first aid kit, looking for God knows what.

Instead, he curled his fingers around her hand and watched curiously as she faltered in her search for whatever it was. His curiosity grew as a blush started to spread across her cheeks and down her neck.

And he was willing to bet that it went down a lot farther as well.

Oh, hell, he really had to kiss her.

"We're going to try this again." He muttered and she looked up from her frantic search of the first aid kit.

"What?"

He shifted, tugging on her hand to turn her towards him and shifting closer when she turned back to him. It brought her face close to his and Troy drew in a deep breath.

"Ready?" He whispered huskily.

She licked her lips and he nearly groaned out the next words.

"Truth or Dare, Gabriella?"

* * *

Her heart was beating a mile a minute.

She was surprised that Troy couldn't hear it as he whispered the words against her lips and she felt them through her body.

In defense, she swallowed hard and replied.

"Truth."

"Do you want me to kiss you?"

Damn.

She hadn't seen that coming.

She'd thought if she'd gone with dare, he would have dared her to kiss him and she would have refused loudly and without preamble.

But, truth? She couldn't lie. No matter what situation.

If it helps, Gabriella reminded herself dimly, lying is not her strong point. At all.

"I - uh, _Troy_."

Crap.

Gabriella hadn't been aware that she could make herself say Troy's name like _that_ but apparently, she could. All it took was being breathless from him being so close and a heart that won't stop pounding and his name was a breathy word that almost got caught in her throat and a sound he apparently liked, if the way his eyes had darkened tenfold was any indicator.

"That sounds like a yes to me."

Gabriella blinked as he moved closer.

She's not too sure how much closer he could have come but he moved all the same.

"Wait."

Slapping a hand on his chest, she felt her eyes flutter at the muscle beneath her palm. It felt _really_ good.

And it made her a little nervous too, she'd never been this close to a boy before and definitely not when he'd been looking at the way Troy currently was.

Which was like he could swallow her whole if she let him.

"What?" His thumb began to trace circles on her hand again and Gabriella felt her heart skitter before she licked her lips.

"Uh. Truth or Dare?"

"Dare."

Great. Now she had to think of a dare for him.

Inspiration struck.

"I dare you to honestly describe me in ten words."

"Irritating, exasperating, gorgeous, sexy, intelligent, maddening, funny and infuriating."

Her eyes widened and she yanked herself away from him as he finished listing the adjectives she'd thought he'd have to think about first.

"You do not!"

"What? Clearly I do otherwise I wouldn't have said the words." Troy glowered at her a little as she continued to stare at him through wide eyes.

"But - but, I'm not!" She spluttered and he sighed in frustration.

"Which part? 'Cause I guarantee that you're all of them." He shrugged. "I've thought about it, okay?"

Gabriella couldn't help but stare at him.

"Y-you think I'm gorgeous?" She asked in a small voice that she hated.

"Clearly."

"And sexy?"

"Duh."

"And funny?"

"When you're not being infuriating, sure."

What. The. Hell.

She'd never been called anything like that before.

"Oh, and you have the most awesome legs I've ever seen. I wasn't lying before about you having a seriously crazy body."

"I - I, just..."

She was struggling for words and she never struggled for words.

But this had to be an exception.

The boy who irritated the hell out of her had just called her all the things she'd never even known she'd wanted to hear and was acting like it wasn't a big deal, at all.

"You what?" Troy snapped, clearly irritated with her and Gabriella blinked again.

"I - nothing. Isn't it your turn to ask?" She shot back, finding his irritation easier to deal with than the swirl of emotions running through her.

He thought she was gorgeous.

"Ask what? Truth or Dare? I do believe that this game may have been exhausted when you freaked out at my answer to your dare. By the way, who disguises a truth question as a dare?"

"I do. It makes it so much more fun, don't you think? And why give up now? You started the game." She was being sarcastic but she couldn't help herself. He brought it out in her.

He also thought she was sexy.

"Which means I can end it whenever I want, seeing as you clearly don't get why I started it in the first place." He threw back at her and Gabriella huffed in frustration.

"Oh, well, then. Let's have a cry and then rant about why you started it in the first place."

He was on top of her before she could finish her sentence.

The first aid kit crashed to the floor as the couch gave under their combined weight and she sunk into the cushions, finding the warmth and feel of him completely illuminating. More so then the way he scissored his legs so they'd be trapped under his and the way he cuffed her hands above her head and he braced himself on an elbow, like he'd had a lot of practice at this sort of thing.

Gabriella gave a thought to struggling but found herself convinced it would be a bad idea because she could feel the entire length of his body and she really didn't want any surprises that could be caused by her movements.

Then again, being trapped under the boy who thought she was gorgeous, sexy, intelligent and funny wasn't exactly a hardship.

And it really helped that she was really attracted to him, as well.

"The game, Montez," Troy started, eyeing her face and then letting go of her wrists to trail his fingers down through her curls. "Started because I want to kiss you. Now, I'm pretty sure I _have_ to kiss you. You don't mind, do you?"

Her mind shut down. Stopped working completely as he smirked down at her and asked her _something_ that she couldn't quite recall.

Then,before she knew it, his lips were moving towards hers at an agonizing pace and her brain lit up again.

In total panic.

"Troy," she whispered. "I haven't done this before."

He paused.

And Gabriella held her breath, waiting for the inevitable teasing. The mocking. The retaliation to her words.

"Well then, you're just going to have to learn, aren't you, baby?"

His lips crashed into hers before she could register what he'd said.

* * *

A/N: Well, I hope that was worth. Gabriella amuses me in the first part. I couldn't help it. She's funny!


	5. Chapter 5: Spinning

Disclaimer: I do not own 'High School Musical' or any related characters.

A/N: I think this is the second last chapter. I think. We might hit eight chapters if we're lucky but I don't think so.

Anyway, enjoy this new chapter, simply because I find this story highly amusing. I hope you all do, too.

* * *

**_Locked In_**

**Chapter Five: Spinning**

Holy hell.

His head was spinning.

The way she tasted was amazing. The way she arched every time he shifted was incredible. Those breathy little moans and whimpers that had begun to escape her mouth were indescribable.

He really wished he'd thought of kissing her sooner.

Her mind shut off when he was kissing her and Troy found that he really liked the way her eyes were clouded whenever he pulled away to trail a new path down to her neck. It meant she wasn't thinking about anything but him and that made him so happy he wasn't too sure how to deal with it, so he simply sunk into her again, his hand creeping up her thigh to hitch it higher on his hip.

He could feel her hands running up and down his back and as he ducked his head to catch her in a kiss that sent his head spinning again, she pulled impatiently at the white wife beater and Troy found himself hazily thinking that for someone who'd never done this before, she'd been quick to get his shirt off and even more demanding to get his wife beater off.

Not that he'd been slack in anyway when it came to her.

He'd shifted her higher on the couch, so her head was resting against the armrest and had somehow managed to coax those gorgeous legs apart so he could settle himself comfortably against her. Then when she'd tugged at his shirt, he'd found it only fair to yank hers off as well and he'd groaned when he'd realized he had full access to the seriously crazy body of hers.

The thought was enough for him to trail his fingers from her thigh up over her stomach - which quivered and caused him to smirk - to brush the underside of her breast.

"_Troy._"

And there was that noise again. That incredible, breathy way she had of saying his name when he did something she liked and hadn't known she would have liked.

Oh, hell.

He was seriously sinking in the deep end here.

Deciding he didn't care - at least for the moment - Troy grazed his teeth over her pulse point before biting it.

She moaned, her hands shooting up to tangle in his hair and her leg tightening around him.

He thought about doing it again - even as he flicked his tongue over the reddened skin where he'd bitten - then decided against it.

He'd already given her two love bites and he had a feeling that when she was thinking straight, she wasn't going to be very pleased by what she'd let him do.

Or that she was going to be very pleased she'd made out with him at all.

Before he could think anymore, Gabriella pulled his lips back up to hers and made that sound against his mouth.

He lost his head for a minute as he gripped her waist and then pulled her tightly against him - so he could feel every single past of her - and pulled himself into sitting position, so she was straddling his lap.

Oh, he really liked this position, he thought as his and slid around her waist to the smooth expanse of her back and he began to slide it up, searching for her bra clasp.

Gabriella gripped his hair as she kissed him harder and Troy let his other hand slide to the back of her head to tangle in the curls as the hand creeping up to her bra tickled the clasp.

She made a non-committal sound in the back of her throat then pulled away to kiss down his jaw line. Troy tickled her bra clasp again as he twisted his hand in her hair.

A bolt of pain shot through him when she pushed her head back against his cut.

"_Jesus_."

Yanking his hand from her hair, Troy groaned out loud as he pulled away from her to look at his hand.

Christ almighty, it was bleeding again.

"Are you okay?"

Troy's eyes slid from his bleeding hand to the girl on his lap and wanted to groan again as he saw her eyes start clearing and a wary expression work its way over her face.

Well, he'd definitely killed the mood now, hadn't he?

"Yeah. I think I'd better put a bandage on or something, though."

Troy wanted to groan again as Gabriella slid off his lap carefully, her expression indestructible as she knelt down to find a bandage in the spilt contents of the first aid kit.

Troy watched her carefully, trying to figure out what was going on in her head and wondering exactly how long it was going to take before the conversation they were about to have escalated into a full blown argument.

He honestly gave them both about three sentences before they fought.

Gabriella rose from the floor and stepped over to him carefully. Holding out her hand, Troy forced his face to remain passive as he held out his bleeding hand and watched as she efficiently began to wrap the bandage around a piece of padding she'd come up with as well.

As he watched her dark head he wondered how the hell he was meant to approach this new twist in his life.

He highly doubted he could go back to pissing her off when all he would really be doing is thinking about what she tasted like and exactly how good she felt under him and his hands.

He also didn't think it was possible for him to keep up the pretense of finding it impossible to be in a room with her when he'd discovered that he liked her _way_ more than even he thought.

Oh hell, they were really going to have an argument about this.

Because he didn't think she'd believe him over her insecurities and he knew that he was going to find that frustrating which would cause him to yell.

Christ, they were predictable.

Maybe, he thought suddenly lifting his hand to run it through her hair, he could be unpredictable for once.

Maybe that was a good idea.

* * *

Her head was spinning with every single thought he'd managed to erase from her mind when he'd kissed her for the first time.

She stiffened slightly when she felt him gently stroke his hand down her hair and then concentrated more fully on wrapping his hand properly.

She couldn't believe it. She - Gabriella Montez - had made out with Troy Bolton.

It was like...her worst nightmare combined with her most forbidden dream and she didn't know how to handle it. _At all_.

What was she meant to do? Stand up and tell him to forget it ever happened? Put it down to the fact that she irritated him and he was trying to prove some sadistic point to her? Suggest that they had both gone temporarily insane and had acted on a really bad idea?

But would that even work? She wondered.

She had no doubt that when she finally looked up and met his eyes, he was going to start something. A conversation or an argument, she wasn't too sure which, but she did know she wasn't sure how she was meant to handle it.

Don forget he thinks your gorgeous, funny, sexy and intelligent, her mind whispered and she nearly groaned out loud.

There were the words that had got her in trouble in the first place.

How was any girl meant to resist someone who looked like Troy when he could say - in a fit of blunt irritation - all the words they'd always needed to hear?

She supposed she could plead temporary insanity due to her reaction to those words but that wouldn't excuse how she had kept kissing him. Or had yanked at his shirt. Or had arched up when he'd run his hand up her stomach.

And temporary insanity most certainly wouldn't excuse the fact that she was in serious like with Troy Bolton.

How could she not be?

Sure, she'd found him really attractive but in the space of two hours he'd somehow managed to force the realization that she liked him because he stood up to her, he was quick enough to argue with her and he could be considerate even if he'd spent a year professing how much he didn't like her.

Then there was the fact that in the space of two hours he'd somehow started to look at her like she was the most fascinating, gorgeous girl he'd ever seen in his life and she _didn't know how to handle it_.

Biting her lip, Gabriella yanked the bandage into place and found a clip to secure it.

When she was sure it would stay in place, she continued to stare at his hand.

She was _not_ ready for the conversation that was about to take place.

Troy was quiet for a minute, as if waiting for her to look up and then she heard him sigh.

"Gabriella? Look at me."

His voice was quiet and had an edge to it she didn't recognize.

She didn't look up.

"Gabriella? Come on, look at me." He'd somehow managed to keep his voice even and she still couldn't bring herself to look up at him.

"Baby, look up at me. Its okay."

Her eyes snapped up to his at the term of endearment and the soft tone of his voice.

She met his eyes and felt tears start for absolutely no reason as he looked at her with impossibly soft eyes.

He didn't seem surprised as she tried to fight off the tears and Gabriella was at a complete loss at what to do as she felt one escape and then another.

Troy didn't say anything as he slid off the couch and onto the floor next to her. Reaching for her, he pulled her into his lap and Gabriella let out a small sob a she buried her face in the crook of his neck and clutched at his neck.

She wasn't quite sure why she was crying.

Maybe it was because this was all so confusing. Maybe it was a delayed reaction to finding out she was locked in a basement. Maybe it was because her relationship with Troy had changed so unbelievably suddenly and all the snide remarks he'd made were suddenly hurting so much more because she was so worried this was all one big joke.

It didn't matter though, she thought as she cried into the crook of his neck, because he was holding her tightly and she felt that maybe it was okay to cry.

* * *

Crap.

He hadn't meant to make her cry.

He hadn't even _said_ anything.

Apparently, that didn't matter though because he still found himself with an armful of a crying Gabriella and how the hell was he meant to handle this?

When she was hyperventilating it was easier to deal with.

At leas then he didn't have this tight feeling in his chest because he had a feeling that part of the reason she was crying was because of him.

Turning his face into her hair, he pressed a kiss there.

"Shh baby, it's okay."

Alright, maybe it wasn't okay because he had no idea what the fuck she was crying about and for all he knew she could be in tears because she'd let him ravish her on the couch in the his best friends basement and she really hadn't wanted him to do that.

He almost snorted.

Since when did he use the word ravish?

Since now, apparently.

She didn't seem too bothered by his lame attempt at comforting her, though. She simply tightened her grip on the back of his neck and Troy had the inexplicable urge to throttle himself simply because he was definitely sure he was one of the reasons she was crying.

Oh hell, he really hoped he hadn't freaked her out with how far he'd pushed things when they were making out.

Because if that was why she was crying he could come up with a thousand different apologies but none that would really make her less uncomfortable because really? He wasn't that sorry.

How was he meant to be sorry when he'd been enjoying himself so much?

Especially when she said his name in that sexy, breathy way of hers.

"Gabriella? What's wrong?"

He really should have thought to ask that first.

But he didn't, he'd wanted to look at her before she talked herself into believing it was a case of temporary insanity or a joke or something equally hideous he'd actually never really given any thought to.

Because - as mean as he could be to her - he really didn't like it when someone made a joke or a bet about pushing themselves on her.

Fuck.

Maybe he'd liked her for more than five seconds because he'd nearly ripped Jason's head off when he'd brought up - half-jokingly, half-seriously - the idea of pulling a fast one on Gabriella Montez.

"I - I don't know."

It was a delayed reply to his question and for a second Troy had no clue what she was talking about and then remembered he'd asked her what was wrong.

Well then, if she didn't know, that was _really_ helpful.

"Alright. Can you please try and stop crying?" He asked hopefully and was surprised when instead of getting mad, she let out a small giggle instead and buried her face a little deeper into his neck.

"I'll try, but I can't make any promises."

"That's good enough for me."

They both fell silent as Gabriella sniffled a little bit and her breathing began to even out.

As she calmed, Troy became uncomfortably aware that she'd cried quite a bit more than she'd thought. His neck was wet and it was kind of starting to feel itchy.

And if he really wanted to be predictable and start an argument, mentioning that would be sure to cause a blow up.

Besides, he kind of liked the fact that she was leaning on him when he'd been so sure she'd jump away from him at the first opportunity she'd had to clear her mind.

"We need to talk, don't we?"

Troy was surprised that Gabriella had been the one to break the silence.

Then again, considering he wasn't quite sure how to approach this conversation without causing an argument, he'd kept his mouth shut.

So much for hoping it would magically fix itself.

"Yeah. Yeah, I guess we do." He agreed and then wondered where the fuck they were meant to go from there.

Gabriella didn't seem too sure where to go either, if the way she pushed her face a little harder into his neck was anything to go by.

"Well, it might help if we were both fully clothed when we talk."

Okay, Troy thought with a wince, _that_ might start something.

"Wha - oh!"

It was the second time he'd ever seen her move so quickly.

She shot out of his lap so quickly he wondered if she thought she had vampire speed. Then her she tripped over the contents of the first aid kit and crashed to the ground.

He tried. He really did.

But he couldn't stop the laughter that escaped as he looked at her sprawled haphazardly on the floor.

She glared at him. "Thanks for asking if I'm okay. Really. I'm dandy."

Oops. Troy thought, even though he really couldn't help the chuckles that were continuously escaping from his mouth.

Standing up, he stretch and stealthily tried to rub the wet patch on his neck away.

Apparently, he wasn't stealthy enough.

"If you didn't want me to cry all over your neck, don't try and comfort me next time." Gabriella suggested archly as she stood up with a wince.

"I'm sorry. But have you ever had someone cry on your bare skin before? It gets really itchy." Troy defended himself, watching in disappointment as she found her shirt and yanked it over her head.

"Well, then, I'll remember that for next time, shall I? Only cry on someone's clothes. It's a handy tip to have for life."

"But then their clothes will get wet and it'll itch anyway, won't it?"

She threw her hands in the air. "Okay, how about I just remember to stand ten feet away from someone and cry then? That way they won't get wet and itchy and they can shout at me so they can comfort me! Would that be better?"

"Well, maybe not ten feet. What about a foot? Or a foot and a half? Then they can still talk to you?"

Troy was trying to be funny, he really was. And he was really trying not laugh at the ridiculousness of the argument while examining a specific spot on Chad's wall.

Then he looked at her and felt himself soften.

Her hair was wild from the way he'd combed his hands through it over and over. The love bite on her neck was red and mostly likely hurting. Her lips were swollen and sore.

But it was her eyes that got to him.

They were still wet from her tears and a little swollen and in them he could see every single confusing thought she'd had since they'd yanked themselves away from each other and knew that he had caused her tears, just not in the way he'd thought.

"Oh, baby, it _is_ alright."

* * *

He spoke so softly, Gabriella found herself dumbstruck.

She knew she looked like a mess.

Her shirt was askew and her eyes were horrible and swollen and she could feel a stinging on her neck and _really _didn't want to know what it was and he was looking at her like she was beautiful.

It left her completely dumbstruck.

She lost her voice even further when he stepped over and slid his arms around her waist to pull her close.

It made her want to cry again and she didn't want to do that because he'd managed to make a joke over her tears.

Then he told her it was alright, she reminded herself.

With considerable effort, Gabriella yanked herself out of his arms and wrapped her own arms around herself.

"How is it alright? And stop calling me 'baby'." She snapped.

She wanted an argument, she found with surprise.

At least, if they argued it was completely familiar territory for her and he wouldn't call her any term of endearment that made her mind stop working when he combined it with those eyes.

"Alright. And it's okay because this is new for both of us." Troy agreed easily and stunned her.

Normally, he'd snap back with something snide. Or make some sarcastic comment about her personality.

Apparently, this time was different.

"New to you, maybe." She ran her hand through her hair. "Do you know how hard it is to argue with you and still find that your attracted to someone even when they've been a complete jerk to you for a year?"

He considered her for a moment.

"No. But do you know how irritating it is to protect you from numerous pranks even when you're convinced you don't like someone in the slightest?"

That made her pause.

Carefully, she let her hand drop. "What are you talking about?"

Troy snorted. "Are you serious? Do you want to know why nobody but me bothers you at school anymore? I warned them all off you. And then I nearly got into a fight with Jason when he suggested we pull some prank on you. The most infuriating part to all that, is I had no idea _why_ I was doing it. All the excuses I made were lame and really? Most of them revolved around the fact that if I was annoying you then nobody else was allowed, too."

Gabriella's mouth worked but no words came out.

He'd stopped the bullying and she hadn't even noticed because she'd been too focused on the fact that he was the one annoying her beyond all reason.

Before Sharpay had started going out with Chad, Gabriella had been subjected too every single mean, petty thing teenagers could think of. From name calling to suggestions that she would never get anywhere with a guy to being tripped in halls and embarrassed with lewd suggestions in front of teachers. She'd ignored most of them stoically but sometimes, someone would do something and she would crack a little bit.

Then Sharpay had slipped into a relationship with Chad and in turn they'd found themselves with the so called 'popular' group of East High.

It was also when Troy had first started to infuriate her and - now that he'd pointed it out - it had also been when the bullying had stopped.

"Y-you stopped it?" She whispered and he sighed.

"Yep. It's a good thing being the basketball captain because you hold sway over the malleable minds of East High's teenagers." His eyes hardened for a moment. "I didn't know you before, so I never really bothered then I saw some idiot bothering you and I threw him into a locker after you'd left. I think Chad had been with Sharpay for about a month when that happened."

Gabriella couldn't remember the incident he was talking about but could only stare at him open mouthed at the causal way he mentioned the violence he'd inflicted on some poor boy.

Because of her.

"B-but, you hated me!"

"Nope. Never hated you. You irritated me. You infuriated me and up until five seconds ago I'm pretty sure I didn't like you, but I never hated you and even I know people don't deserve to be treated the way those guys treated you. Throwing the guy into the locker was a warning and it worked. Everyone stopped bothering you." He grinned. "Except me, of course."

Gabriella wasn't sure what to do next.

Part of her wanted to back away from him and make her head stop spinning. Another part of her wanted to throw herself at him and say 'thank you' a million times.

The largest part of her wanted to cry again.

So she compromised. She sniffled a little as she stepped over to Troy but didn't touch him.

It didn't help with her head spinning but at least it brought her closer to him.

"Thank you."

* * *

He really didn't think he'd ever wanted to touch someone so badly.

She was standing there, everything about her a mess, looking up at him with a kind of disbelieving wonder as words he _really_ thought he'd never say escaped his mouth.

Seriously. He really needed to learn how to control himself when she was around.

That shit was _not_ meant to come out.

Ever.

He'd actually threatened Chad with burning his baseball cards if he ever mentioned it to Sharpay.

But there it was. Hanging between them like...well, a thing that hanged, Troy supposed.

A picture, maybe.

That was a little to obvious, Troy told himself.

Then it'd have to be a poster.

Which was just the same as a picture, you idiot, he chided.

What the hell did people hang then?

Troy snapped too when he realized that Gabriella was staring at him strangely.

"Oh. Uh, your welcome."

She continued to look at him and Troy really wanted to know how he had managed to go from thinking about how badly he wanted to touch the girl in front of him to questioning what, exactly, people hung.

Christ. There he went again.

He decided that was going to be one of life's eternal mysteries until he got the fuck out of there.

Gabriella was still watching him, her eyes still filled with that disbelieving wonder and Troy found that he still really wanted to touch her. Before he could reach out, she spoke.

"So, what happens now?" She whispered.

Troy couldn't help himself.

He reached out and pulled her into him tightly, his hands spanning her waist and his nose nuzzling her hair. She was stiff for a moment before she wrapped her arms around his waist cautiously.

"Now? We wait until they open the fucking door. Then we figure everything else out."

* * *

A/N: Okay, so they didn't solve anything out and up until, like, ten minutes ago, I swear to you I was nearly pulling at my hair in frustration because I was like 'really? they're not going to come to a compromise?' then I realized what I was doing. Yes, how I write is weird but it works. In a weird and wonderful way! I hope you enjoyed this chapter!


	6. Chapter 6: Run

Disclaimer: I do not own 'High School Musical' or any related characters.

A/N: So, second last chapter. I've managed to stretch it so that there's one more chapter left! That's actually exciting!

Anyway, enjoy this new chapter!

Even if there's only one more after this.

* * *

**_Locked In_**

**Chapter Six: Run**

Sharpay watched her boyfriend devour his pizza absently.

Her mind - ever since they had escaped from Chad's house - had been preoccupied with thoughts of what was happening in Chad's basement right at that very moment.

She was deathly afraid they were going to return to the scene of a grisly murder.

She was even more afraid she was going to spend the next week soothing her best friend because of all that Troy had put her through in the last few hours.

And no matter what she told herself, she couldn't help the urge to go back to Chad's house and free their friends from their makeshift prison.

"It won't help if you keep thinking about it, you know? Maybe they haven't killed each other."

"Not happening Chad, they'll have killed each other and we'll get the blame."

He raised an eyebrow as he wrapped his tongue around the stringy cheese of his pizza before taking a large bit from the slice in his hand.

"Troy won't kill her." He said confidently through a mouthful of food and Sharpay rolled her eyes at his confidence.

"Uh-huh. Sure, he won't. He'll probably just cause her permanent psychological damage that'll have her sitting in a therapists office well into her thirty's." Sharpay snapped and then stopped a growl when he opened his mouth. "Chad, chew with your mouth _closed_."

He swallowed because he knew better than to argue with that tone.

"Why are you regretting it now? You're the one that thought it was a good idea." He pointed out, reaching for his glass of coca-cola and raising a mocking eyebrow at her.

Sharpay glared at him.

She really didn't need him to point out the obvious. It wasn't like she hadn't figured that one out on her own. She'd spent most of her time during the horrible film they'd gone to see, worrying about how Gabriella was handling herself in the basement with Troy and berating herself to act on such a stupid impulse.

Locking them in together?

Worst. Idea. Ever.

And she'd come to that conclusion _before _she'd remembered that Gabriella was terrified of basements.

That had added a whole new layer of guilt to the conscious already grating at her.

Especially seeing as she'd realized - belatedly, but at least she'd realized it - that locking them in a place that Gabriella was terrified of would only give Troy more ammunition than he needed to taunt her best friend.

"I know! I can't believe I thought it was a good idea! Why didn't you talk me out of it!"

Chad raised both eyebrows at his girlfriend's loud outburst.

He couldn't say he was surprised by it.

He'd been expecting it ever since she'd started fidgeting in the car which was around the time she'd begun to really think about what she'd done to her best friend.

And his for that matter, Chad added as an afterthought.

Shrugging, he took another bite of pizza. "He threatened to burn my lucky shorts and baseball cards. She threatened to destroy your closet. Leaving them in there seemed like a fair trade."

Sharpay glared at him.

"We left our best friends in the basement because of material things? How could you?"

"Uh, babe, I hate to say it but you went dead white when Gabriella threatened your vintage collection." Chad drained his drink. "Besides, Troy won't let anything happen to her."

"Oh really, and you know this because you know he's such a caring person towards Gabriella, right?"

He shook his head. "No, I know this because Troy stopped the bullying. Why the hell would he hurt her when he's spent the last year protecting her and pissing himself off in the process?"

Chad remembered Troy's threat as soon as he finished his sentence.

Oh hell. He was _so_ losing his baseball cards.

And his lucky shorts.

And his life.

All because he'd let his girlfriend talk him into locking Troy in the basement with Gabriella.

And telling her about Troy protecting Gabriella from her tormentors.

"Wait. Repeat that." Sharpay stared at him curiously and Chad coughed nervously.

"Uh. It's nothing. We should probably let them out."

Crap.

She was going to nag him about this now, Chad knew and he was going to crack.

To avoid it happening in the restaurant, Chad stood abruptly and headed for the cash register.

Ignoring the way Sharpay swore at his back, he smiled at the cashier and shoved two twenty's into his hand.

The kid looked a little surprised but hurried when he saw the look in Chad's eyes.

"T-Thank you, sir." He stuttered and Chad nodded, grabbing his change and striding out of the restaurant.

"Chad Danforth you'd better tell me what you just said!"

Christ, he was in so much trouble, Chad thought as he turned to face his furious girlfriend.

"Nope. Let's get home and set them free, shall we? Then I'll explain."

He was sincerely hoping that their friends attacked them or dragged them away before he explained to Sharpay what he meant.

Because, judging by the look in her eye, she was _so_ not letting this one go.

* * *

"Troy?"

"Hmm?"

He was seriously comfortable.

He'd managed to maneuver her so they were both lying on the couch. He was settled comfortably on the bottom, his head resting against the armrest. She was sprawled comfortably on top of him, their legs tangled and her ear pressed against his heart. Somehow - and he didn't plan on knowing how nor thinking about it because it went beyond gag-worthy - their hands had intertwined and he was lazily drawing circles on the back of her hand with his thumb.

He probably would be worried by the picture they made if he wasn't seriously enjoying himself.

It had taken her a while to relax against him the way she was but he'd soothed the uncertainty in her when he'd tugged her down onto him by telling her jokes.

Bad ones.

Really, _really _bad ones.

But it had worked.

Though he didn't think he was ever going to live down the original 'why did the chicken cross the road?' opener.

She'd stared at him like he was crazy before smiling indulgently.

Troy was pretty sure if he hadn't seen the sweetness in the smile, he would have gotten really irritated by the indulgence.

But the sweetness was there, so he'd let the smile ride.

He was pretty sure she'd use it again later and he'd get irritated later.

"Troy? Did you hear me?"

"What?" Lazily, he opened his eyes. "No. What'd you say?"

She huffed impatiently.

"What are we going to tell Chad and Sharpay?"

Troy let his eyes drift close again and ran his hand up her spine. She shivered slightly and his lips curled slightly because he knew what had made her shiver.

"Well, babe, I don't know about you but I don't plan on telling them anything."

"What? Why?"

She sounded truly surprised and Troy furrowed his brow for a minute.

Why the hell was she surprised?

Then he got it.

Girls really did tell each other everything, didn't they?

He blew out a breath.

"A: they locked us in here. Therefore, they don't need to know what happened. B: They can suffer because of it. And C: what the hell are we meant to tell them? We made out but we're not too sure where to go from here? Sharpay'll go ape shit if we say that."

Gabriella was silent for a moment.

"Alright. But what if they come down and find us like this?"

He shrugged his shoulders.

"They won't." He replied confidently.

"And you know this how?" She raised her eyebrows at his arrogance.

"Because the minute I hear that door opening, I'm dumping you on the ground and going after Chad. I don't care what _you_ think but he deserves to at least be punched for going along with Sharpay's hair brained scheme."

Gabriella narrowed her eyes, a glimmer of hurt shining through.

Troy saw it and winced.

Oh hell, he had to open his mouth, didn't he?

He braced himself for the question.

"So, you regret them locking us down here?" She sounded like she was wording the question carefully and Troy sighed.

"Well, yes and no." He might as well be honest, he thought, resigned. She wouldn't accept anything less from him if he wasn't.

"Yes and no?" She echoed and sat up.

Troy groaned.

Why? Why did he have to go and open his mouth?

First agreeing to come here and then saying that.

Now, he wasn't comfortable at all.

"Pretty much. I don't regret it because well, look where we are now. That's not something I'm going to regret. What I regret is falling for the whole scheme in the first place. You should, too. 'Cause, seriously? We're smarter than Chad and Sharpay put together and we should have known better."

He wasn't quite sure he'd explained himself quite right.

In fact, he had a sinking feeling he'd managed to sound like some teenage television character and - with the exception of_ The Vampire Diaries_ - he was so not comfortable with that.

Because, really? That shit was not cool. Especially because he highly doubted Gabriella had understood a word of what he was saying.

Hell, he was still trying to figure out how insulting Chad and Sharpay's intelligence had anything to do with regretting being down here.

"So you don't regret being here, with me?" Her voice was soft and unsure and Troy was caught by the insecurity in her eyes.

Jesus, they were really going to have to work on building her confidence up once they were out of her, weren't they? It was bad enough he'd known how bad it had been when they were adamant they didn't like each other but now that they were...emotionally attached - for lack of a better term - Troy found he didn't really like the way insecurity flashed when he said something he meant and she wasn't too sure she could believe.

"Uh. No. Clearly. Though, I have to admit, this could have taken place in a more comfortable place. Like a bedroom. Or a classroom. Or somewhere that you're not afraid of."

Gabriella watched him for a moment, her eyes wide before the beginnings of a smile began to curl at her lips and she leaned down to him.

"Did I make you uncomfortable?"

"Did you see yourself? You were hyperventilating and rocking yourself. For someone who, up until an hour ago, was pretty sure you only irritated the hell out of them, I was at a loss."

Troy eyed her curiously as her brown eyes sparked with amusement.

He wasn't too sure he liked that she was amused by him but snaked his arm around her waist, anyway.

"Did the ever confident Troy Bolton have no clue what to do?" Gabriella smiled as she leaned down a little further, her lips hovering over his.

Tease.

Troy shifted a little, settling her more comfortably across him and squeezing her hand gently.

A blush crept across her cheeks and he forced back a smirk.

"Yep. The ever confident Troy Bolton had no clue what was going. Which is how you ended up in my lap. Though," he added, slowly working his hips in a circle that caused her to gasp. "I'm pretty sure that I enjoyed it as much as I'm enjoying this."

Her hand dug into his shoulder as he worked his hips again and Gabriella bit her lip before letting her brow drop to his own.

"Gonna kiss me again, baby? I don't think you've had enough practice just yet."

Her eyes narrowed at his arrogant tone even as her lips curved in amusement.

"I'm thinking about it."

Troy grinned. "I don't think you're thinking hard enough, then."

She didn't have a chance to reply and he leaned up and caught her in another kiss.

* * *

"Chad, I demand you provide an explanation for what you said in the restaurant."

Sharpay's tone was a warning and Chad gripped the steering wheel a little tighter as she folded her arms and waited.

He debated, silently and frantically, who would kill him more painfully.

Sharpay, if he refused to give her the information she seemed to crave.

Or Troy.

Who knew where he kept his most precious cards and exactly which pair of shorts were his lucky pair.

Who also knew how to light a fire with cold resolve.

And - if his friend really thought it was necessary - could take him out with a few solid punches to the weak areas only Troy knew about.

Troy. He settled. Troy would kill him much more painfully and torture him to within an inch of his life before he went in to take his life.

Sharpay could withhold sex for as long as she wanted - Chad doubted she'd last a month - but she couldn't do any permanent damage to him the way Troy could.

"No. I'm not telling you." He snapped out through gritted teeth.

Sharpay glared.

"Why the hell not? It involves my best friend!"

"Who you locked in a basement with my best friend under the rather interesting illusion that their animal attraction for each other would implode if they were both down there."

"That is a point I'm going to ignore." Sharpay snapped. "Chad, seriously, why did Troy stop Gabriella's bullies?"

Chad gritted his teeth as he turned into his street and slowed the car down in order to concentrate on finding his driveway.

"We're not going to discuss this, Sharpay. Simply because I know Troy's going to kill me when he gets let out of the fucking basement and if he finds out I told you after he made me swear not to tell, I won't just be bruised and bloody, I'll be fucking dead. So. Drop. It."

Sharpay opened her mouth to argue when Chad shot her a deadly look that had her mouth snapping shut and her folding her arms defiantly.

Rolled his eyes heavenwards, thanking higher powers for shutting her up just as they'd reached his house.

Turning into the driveway, Chad felt some of his resolve falter at the thought of letting Troy out of the basement.

He wasn't quite sure how mad Troy was going to be when he opened that door and wondered if maybe letting him out was a good idea, after all.

Then he considered the alternative.

Leave him down there with Gabriella and have to clean up a dead body as well as deal with a best friend who'd had days to stew on his anger.

Yep, getting him out of there now was definitely a good idea.

Unbuckling his seat belt, Chad shut off the car and got out, purposefully ignoring the way his girlfriend was staring at him with wide eyes.

He opened the front door and with a conviction he did not feel, he headed for the basement door Sharpay trailing behind him.

He stopped when he came face to face with it.

"Chad? This is a really bad idea. What if they've murdered each other already?"

Chad swallowed.

"Well then, we shall mourn our loss and you can live with the guilt of locking them down there."

Silently, he sent a bleak goodbye to that which was precious to him. He doubted that he would be able to protect his cards or shorts when Troy was out.

Preparing himself to run for his life, Chad pulled the chair out from underneath the door handle.

Then - with a deep, steadying breath that did nothing to calm him - he reached for the door handle.

Glancing back at his girlfriend, who was biting her lip worriedly, he gave her an encouraging smiled.

"Get ready to run, Shar."

He then turned back and twisted the doorknob.

* * *

Troy heard the door opening even with Gabriella's breath in his ear and the small moans she was making that were coming from the back of her throat.

Pulling away reluctantly and Troy sat up and dislodged Gabriella from his lap.

"What? What's wrong?" She asked, looking at him through hazy eyes.

Troy smirked, standing up and pulling his shirt back down. Leaning down - in much the same way he had when he'd first tried to kiss her - he placed another kiss on her swollen mouth before cocking his head slightly and listening as the door opened inch by frustrating inch.

"Baby? Meet me out the front of Chad's house in ten minutes. They're opening the door."

He didn't wait for his words to register and left her sitting there.

Stealthily, he crept up the stairs, a feral grin spreading across his face as he thought of all the way he was going to make his friend pay for going along with Sharpay's stupid scheme.

"Chad? Are you going to open it a bit faster?"

Troy rolled his eyes at Sharpay's nervous voice.

"I'm trying to see if I can smell any huge amounts of blood."

Idiot.

Which, Troy thought reasonably as he kept creeping, wasn't such a surprise.

Though he'd be seriously surprised if Chad smelt blood, he hadn't bled that much.

As if just remembering his hand, Troy glanced down at it and flexed.

That was a bad idea, he thought with a wince as pain shot through him.

Though, it'd be worth it to punch Chad and he could deal with the pain.

Glancing up, Troy stepped onto the landing silently and folded his arms, body poised to take off the minute he saw his best friend.

He waited - the grin still on his lips - as Chad opened the door fully.

The horrified look on his best friends face was just the beginnings of what Troy had in store for him.

"Hi Chad. I'd run if I were you." Troy snarled.

Chad didn't need to be told twice.

And Troy took off after him without a second thought.

* * *

"Gabriella?"

Sharpay's timid voice snapped her out of her thoughts and Gabriella ran a hand through her hair as the blonde cautiously descended the stairs, eyeing her carefully.

"Sharpay."

Gabriella kept her voice cool. Not only for Sharpay's benefit but because if her voice was cool, then Sharpay wouldn't be able to tell how dreamy it wanted to become as she remembered the way Troy had pinned her down beneath him.

Though they hadn't really spoken about it extensively, Gabriella knew that more was going to come out of her and Troy being locked down here than what Sharpay and Chad had originally thought.

Gabriella felt her stomach flip at the thought and fought the tiny smile that wanted to break free.

"A-are you okay?"

Gabriella stood up and faced her best friend.

"Fine. I'm not speaking to you right now, so I suggest you leave me alone until I calm down."

Gabriella congratulated herself on keeping her voice cool and even as she spoke. Sharpay didn't look surprised at Gabriella's reply.

"Okay. Can I just - "

"Nope. I'm leaving, hope you had fun with Chad."

Gabriella didn't wait for Sharpay to reply.

Though she'd managed to forget about it in favor of concentrating on her feelings for Troy, Gabriella suddenly remembered just how furious she was with her best friend.

Who'd _known_ she was terrified of basements!

If that wasn't enough, then Gabriella wasn't sure what was.

Still, she thought as she stalked up the stairs, she could probably stretch the fury to encompass being left alone in the basement with Troy not to mention that she was sure if Sharpay had had her way, they would have stayed down there till morning.

Gabriella would have seriously had a problem with that.

Walking through the living room, she snatched up her jacket and then glanced at the television.

_Saw_ was paused and Gabriella stared at it and wondered how so much could have changed since she'd been sitting on the couch, feeling her stomach turn at the horror on the screen in front of her.

She supposed it didn't matter.

But hell, she was glad she'd missed the movie.

Shrugging into her jacket, she walked outside in time to see Troy stalk around the side of the building, hard lines etched into his face.

The lines softened when he saw her and Gabriella smiled back at him as he walked over to her.

"Is - "

"He's alive. Barely. I'll go after his baseball cards tomorrow. Sharpay?"

Gabriella stiffened slightly as he slung an arm around her shoulders and then leaned into him as he began to steer her towards the black car parked at the curb.

"Fine. I didn't really talk to her. She can suffer for a while."

Glancing up at him, Gabriella stopped walking when she noticed the trickle of blood slowly moving down the side of his face.

"Troy! You're bleeding. What'd he do to you?" She snapped at him, wishing she had a tissue on her as she reached up to see where he was bleeding.

"Babe, it's okay. Chad got a couple in but I got more."

"It's not okay. God, can you not go five seconds without injuring yourself?"

He grinned cheekily.

"Why don't you come home and we'll find a first aid kit and you can fix me up. After all," Gabriella stopped breathing when he caught her hand and brought it to his mouth. "You've done such a good job on me so far."

For a moment, Gabriella wasn't sure what to say. Is this where they were going to go? Cheeky smiles and kisses on hands? Or where they going to revert back to arguments and throw in random kisses when they both became really frustrated with each other.

Or were they going to head for a combination of the two or nothing at all?

Staring at him, Gabriella wasn't too sure she wanted to know and because she didn't, she smiled up at him.

"Sure. Someone has to take care of you."


	7. Chapter 7: Revenge

Disclaimer: I do not own 'High School Musical' or any related characrters.

A/N: I'm not sure what happened, but I have been meaning to put this up for a while. Basically, its just the ending to the story that I found quite amusing when I was thinking about it. I do hope you enjoy reading the final chapter of 'Locked In' mainly because it was such a fun story to write!

Thank you to all the reviewers, as always you guys are amazing and I love every single review I get! So thank you for taking the time to write one!

Now, enjoy the last chapter of LI and thank you for reading!

* * *

**_Locked In_**

**Chapter Seven: Revenge**

"I can't believe you talked me into this."

Troy glanced at Gabriella as she sat, her arms folded, her spine stiff and eyed the television in distaste.

"Aww, babe, don't be such a kill joy. Besides, it's the ultimate revenge, isn't it?"

Troy grinned charmingly at his girlfriend even as he reached over and pulled at one of the curls that had fallen out of the pony tail she'd pulled it in earlier.

She swatted his hand away with a warning look and Troy just grinned.

"I don't care if it's the ultimate revenge, I just can't believe you talked me into it."

"Are you kidding me? I talked you into strip poker, talking you into this was unbelievably easy."

She went red.

If there was one thing he was always going adore about his girlfriend, Troy thought, it was that she still blushed. It didn't matter what he said - whether it was sweet, sexy or said in a fit of irritation - she _always_ blushed and he thought it was the cutest thing in the world.

He'd made a resolve to make her blush as much as he possibly could. Mainly because he thought it was cute, but partly because he wanted to see how red she could go.

So far, they'd reached tomato red.

He was aiming for fire engine red.

"I told you to never bring that up again." She hissed at him and Troy snorted in laughter.

"You're joking right? I'm never, ever going to _not_ bring that up."

She glared at him and Troy smothered a chuckle.

He really couldn't help himself when it came to her, he thought even as he reached out and yanked her onto his lap.

She sat stiffly for a moment before relaxing into him.

"Yeah, yeah, I wish you wouldn't. Your ego inflates every time you think of it." She murmured, settling her head in the crook of his neck.

"Only in the right context, babe. Only in the right context."

They sat silently for a moment, Troy's hand slipping beneath her shirt to rest on the warm skin on her back as Gabriella's arm slid around him, her hand absently rubbing circles on his back.

Okay, this was nice. Maybe they weren't the worlds most perfect couple, but these moments more than made up for all their difficulties.

Four months, Troy mused, it had been four months since they'd escaped the basement and he'd taken her back to his house to fix him up.

Four months since he'd suggested that maybe they should start with a date and see where it went from there.

Four months since he'd flatly refused to let her belittle whatever the hell they'd discovered in Chad's basement into something childish and pedestrian.

Four months since he'd admitted that he really, _really_ liked her and that that first date was going to turn into more dates which would eventually turn into a relationship he was happier in than he'd ever thought possible.

With a smile, Troy turned so he could nuzzle her hair adoringly.

"You know," he murmured as she tilted her face up to look at him. "I really, really, _really_ like you."

The blush that spread over her cheeks and down her neck wasn't bright red, it was pink and Troy thought that it was _the_ cutest blush of all. She looked the most beautiful when her cheeks were tinged with pink and the small, shy smile was pulling at her lips.

Sue him.

He noticed stuff like that.

"Well, that's good. 'Cause I really, really, _really_ like you too."

He smirked at that and leaned down to catch her in a slow kiss that he'd only just discovered he really enjoyed.

The slow, gentle kiss was something he'd only experimented with a little while ago.

Mainly because in the past four months, kissing her had been about trying to take a years worth of sexual frustration - realized after being locking in a freaking _basement_ - out on her.

She hadn't seemed to mind those kisses though, he thought hazily. In fact, she seemed to enjoy them just as much as he did.

It was just that these slower, gentler kisses were so much nicer to exchange because it showed that there was more than sexual frustration to their relationship.

Although, they were still trying to figure out what was beyond the sexual frustration.

So far, they'd come up with the same taste in music and films.

And they shared a very similar opinion on people in their school.

And, he'd discovered with pleasure, Gabriella could hold a hell of a grudge.

It was killing Sharpay that while she and Chad knew they were together, neither of them knew what had taken place in the basement while they'd been at the cinema.

It was, Gabriella had told him, the ultimate revenge because Sharpay was _dying_ to know what had happened.

"Oh. Of course they're making out."

Think of the devil and it shall appear, Troy thought with a groan and pulled away from his girlfriend to look at Sharpay, who was standing in the doorway, her hands on her hips.

"Evening, Shar. How's it going?" Troy asked pleasantly, keeping Gabriella curled on his lap.

Partly because he loved her where she was and partly because Sharpay was _way_ too astute and Gabriella sucked at keeping a secret.

Well, apart from the one about her thinking he was attractive but he let that one go because he figured it came out eventually.

"Wonderfully. Let me guess, my boyfriends going to walk through the door in a minute and you're going to make us talk."

Gabriella turned her face to her friend.

"Uh. No. Despite what you may think, Troy only invited you because I asked him too. He didn't invite Chad because he doesn't want to clean up blood." Gabriella said smoothly, rolling her eyes at her friends mutinous face.

"So, get over it Sharpie and sit down. I invited you and I will tolerate you, but that's about as far as it gets." Troy added helpfully, managing to not wince when Gabriella dug her elbow into his side.

Holy hell, she had bony elbows. He was pretty sure that was going to bruise.

"Yeah. Come on, we're even watching something that you'll want to watch."

Troy raised his eyebrows.

"We are?"

Gabriella shot him a look that clearly said 'shut up.'

"We are." She confirmed. "You like _Grease, _don't you Shar?"

"Oh, that I can deal with." Troy said, forgetting about his girlfriends look and wincing when she dug her elbow back in the _exact_ same spot.

He was going to be freaking purple there tomorrow, if she kept it up.

"Babe, if you keep doing that, you're so not going to be able to cuddle up next to me tonight." He whispered in her ear and Gabriella flicked him a glance.

"I do believe that you enjoy the cuddling more than me, Mr Bolton." She snapped before turning to Sharpay. "Come on Shar, you need a break, we've only got one idiot to deal with."

"I am not an idiot. And you like it as much as I do. Don't deny it, Miss Montez. Especially when you're all sated and sleepy because I - "

"Troy, I do _not_ need details about your sex life." Sharpay suddenly spoke up and he rolled his eyes, noting with pleasure that Gabriella had gone tomato red. "But I'll stay if you two can keep your lips to yourselves."

Troy opened his mouth, he _had_ to touch that. He just had to.

"We can. Promise." Gabriella interjected before he could say anything with another well aimed jab into his ribs.

"If I'm purple there tomorrow, you are _so_ going to regret elbowing me, Montez." He snapped irritably, watching Sharpay stalk over to the other end of the couch and drop down, like it was a chore.

"Uh-huh. I'm sure I am, press play will you?"

With a sigh that spoke of his suffering, Troy plucked up the remote and hit play.

Putting it down, he curled his arm back around his girlfriend and nuzzled her hair even as she stiffened slightly.

"What?"

"Troy? This isn't _Grease_."

Glancing up, he raised an eyebrow at picture on the screen.

Nope, that _definitely_ wasn't _Grease_.

"Duh. I may have not been paying attention when I was putting in the DVD." He shot a glance at Sharpay. "You okay with this? 'Cause I really don't want to move. I'm _really_ comfortable."

For a moment, he seriously thought Sharpay was going to get up and stalk out - can you say dramatic much? - and wondered how he was going to pull of the plan and keep his other side from being turned purple by Gabriella's elbow.

He was, however, saved by Sharpay's exaggerated eye roll and loud sigh.

He really couldn't help himself when she did that.

"Dramatic much?" He inquired. "Oh, _fuck me." _

He jumped as Gabriella's elbow found the exact same place as it had before and he glared at his girlfriend.

"I think Gabriella would be willing to oblige." Sharpay sniped from her end.

"Jesus, Montez, watch that elbow. Your arms are freaking _bony_."

His girlfriend glared at him and he raised an eyebrow.

"..._I have to know her._"

"Oh, my God. What are we watching?" Sharpay moaned before Gabriella could snap at him.

"_The Vampire Diaries." _Troy said helpfully. "If it helps at all, Brie thinks Damon's really hot and I'm sure you will too."

They both stared at him.

Gabriella looked like she was torn between wanting to laugh at him and scold him, while Sharpay seemed to be staring in complete disbelief at what had just come out of his mouth.

He really wanted to know what the big deal was.

It wasn't like he'd suddenly decided to announce that a pig had flown past the window and that every single unrealistic thing anyone had ever said was about to come true and they should all go into hiding because he was sure that they would be called to cash in on their stupid promises that all ended with 'that'll happen when pigs fly.'

Troy looked at the two of them.

They could really stop staring now.

"What?"

"Why? Why do you say things like that?" Gabriella inquired, as if she truly wanted to know.

"Are you serious? I called you a vampire in that basement. That comment was tame for me." He replied, pulling a 'you should have known that' face and causing her to roll her eyes.

She seemed to consider that thoroughly before shrugging and turning her attention to the television.

Troy waited for Sharpay to say something sarcastic to him.

He _really_ couldn't wait to have a go at her.

Not because he didn't like her, oh no, that would be too easy.

Besides, he had Gabriella for that and he knew for a fact she was much more entertaining to argue with.

Sharpay tended to shriek and had a habit of only making sense in the opening scenes of the argument.

No, he wanted to have a go at her because she was causing Chad some serious discomfort and while Troy thought of his best friend as a brother and nodded along sympathetically as he whined about his girlfriends sudden halt in all things sexual in their relationship, if he had to hear one more thing about it - or the intimate details about when she stopped just as it was getting good - he was likely to shoot Chad and dump black paint all over Sharpay just to exact his revenge in an ill thought out manner.

That reason alone had led him to his current situation.

And he wasn't going to lie, he was wishing he'd gone with the black paint plan after all.

Something about Sharpay was really beginning to irritate him right now and while he'd always seemed to get along quite well with the blonde, if she kept sitting there, shooting them dirty looks, she was going to find something gross in her hair and he was _so_ not going to apologize for it.

"Are you even paying attention to this?"

His girlfriends whisper brought him out of his thoughts and he glanced at the screen before turning back to her.

"Not really. I watched it last night." He shifted her so she was settled a little more comfortably against him. "How long do you thinks it's going to take before - "

Sharpay cut him off quite effectively.

"I swear, if I have to watch this, I'm going to need alcohol."

"Oh, good, there's some in the spare room." Troy replied pleasantly and Sharpay shot him a curious look.

"Are you serious?"

"Why wouldn't I be? Do you want it or not? Because there's seriously some in there and it needs to be gone before Mom goes on one of her random spring cleans."

Sharpay seemed to consider him for a moment before she slowly nodded her head.

"Alright, wait there, I'll go and get it."

Kissing Gabriella quickly, Troy shifted her off his lap and stood up, stretching and winking at his girlfriend.

Gabriella smirked back at him before feigning interest in what was happening on screen.

Wandering out of the room, Troy took his time finding his way to the spare room.

When he was facing the shut door, he cleared his throat loudly before hitting it for effect.

"Brie? Can you come here a minute? There's something wrong with the door." He yelled out, knowing that Sharpay would follow her because the blonde would seriously despise being left alone to watch the show without alcohol.

"Coming."

He smirked at the door as he heard her shout and then the unmistakable sound of two sets of feet making their way towards him.

Sharpay looked irritated as they rounded the corner of his hallway and he shrugged at her expression.

"Look, I don't know what's going on but I think the doors stuck. It does this sometimes." He explained before Sharpay could open her mouth and argue.

For effect, he shoved his shoulder into the door - not hard, he'd learned a really hard lesson last time he'd tried to pound open a door using brute strength - and grunted slightly.

He tried really hard to not make it too obvious he wasn't touching the doorknob.

"Are you serious? It's not opening."

Okay, Gabriella sucked at acting concerned.

She was trying to contain her smile and he frantically shot her a look that told her to keep herself in check otherwise this was _never_ going to work.

Out of Chad and Sharpay, Sharpay was the astute one.

"Are you turning the door handle, at all Bolton?" Sharpay suddenly snapped and Troy had to force away his grin.

With a smooth move, he flipped the lock on the door.

"Uh, yeah, maybe you should try it." He said, stepping back and knowing that she wouldn't be able to stop herself from making a fool of him.

With a huff, Sharpay stomped over to the door and Troy moved slightly to the side as Gabriella moved to stand directly behind her friend, the grin she'd been trying to hide beginning to spread as Sharpay jiggled the doorknob before turning it one way then the other and pushing it open.

Shooting him a look, the blonde snorted.

"No wonder you and Chad are - _Chad?_" She squeaked when she looked in the spare room and caught sight of her boyfriend tied to a chair and glaring mutinously at Troy, his mouth conveniently covered with masking tape.

Gabriella didn't give her another second to react before she gave Sharpay a solid push and sent her sprawling into the room.

Slamming the door shut, Troy flipped the lock again and burst out laughing when he heard Sharpay's horrified scream.

"Just discover that the only way to lock this door is from the outside, Shar?" He asked, reaching out for his girlfriend and pulling her into him.

Sharpay spluttered, banging on the door and letting loose a series of strangled sounds that weren't actually words.

"You know," he started, looking down at a shaking Gabriella. "I think we made more sense than that when _she_ locked _us _in, don't you?"

Unable to contain the silent laughter that she'd been shaking from, Gabriella let it out and buried her face in his chest.

"Toodles Sharpay. We'll be back in six to eight hours."

The blonde fell totally silent at his words and Troy steered Gabriella way from the spare room and back into the living room.

As they both fell onto the couch - Gabriella still shaking from laughter and Troy _very_ pleased with the way his plan had worked out - he looked over at her.

"So, do you reckon they're going to be as grateful as we were after we'd been locked in?"

**The End**


End file.
